Howdy, Pardner

The U.S. Coast Guard has forged partnerships with industry, state and local entities, other federal agencies, and foreign governments to ensure the safety of ports worldwide. Coast Guard Captains of the Port now have broad authority to coordinate a wide range of security activities, such as this Maritime Safety and Security Team operating near the cruise-ship piers in Port Everglades, Florida (right).

Legendary radio personality Paul Harvey uses a signature phrase to keep his listeners glued to their radios as he pauses before giving them the straight scoop: " . . . and now, the rest of the story."

There is a also a "rest of the story" when it comes to describing the Coast Guard's efforts to build and sustain interagency, public-private sector, military-to-military, and international partnerships to counter threats from maritime terrorists. The Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) of 2002 and the International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code are significant steps forward. Their provisions, plus improved interoperability with our military partners, especially the U.S. Navy, give the Coast Guard what it needs to combat the growing threat.

The Maritime Transportation Security Act has been called one of the most important pieces of legislation involving port security in our country's history. While building partnerships has been a historical mainstay of the Coast Guard's business plan, this legislation defined the Coast Guard's responsibility to build partnerships for security. It designated Coast Guard Captains of the Port as Federal Maritime Security Coordinators and gave them the authority to coordinate the Area Maritime Security Committees consisting of port-level maritime security professionals from industry, local and state agencies, and federal agencies including the Department of Defense.

The committees provide a conduit to share threat information to help the port captains develop a plan that will combine the various capabilities to respond to the terrorist threat and to transportation security incidents.

The U.S. strategy to secure our ports and reduce maritime risk does not stop at our territorial waters. The United States is heavily dependent upon its maritime trade, which terrorists can exploit through direct attack or use as a conduit to smuggle personnel and weapons. This vulnerability threatens not only the U.S., but also our many foreign trade partners.

To address the threat, the Coast Guard used its long-standing international relationships and its membership in the International Maritime Organization to build a multilateral effort to reduce vulnerabilities. In 2002, these efforts led the IMO to adopt amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea that created the International Ship and Port Security Code. This requires ships and port facilities involved in international trade to designate security officials, conduct security assessments, and implement security plans. It also requires member nations to act as partners and share maritime threat information.

The Coast Guard has assumed the U.S. responsibility to work with other maritime nations. To meet this obligation, the Coast Guard has designated and deployed International Port Security Liaison Officers (IPSLOs) around the world. Assigned to the two Coast Guard Area Commands, these officers work with U.S. Embassy and host-nation representatives to foster cooperation and coordination by sharing security practices and concerns.

The liaison officers have been assigned a limited number of countries so that they can focus on developing rapport with individual government and maritime industry representatives. In turn, each nation has a dedicated link through its liaison officer to communicate maritime security concerns to the United States. Building trust and understanding through personal contact is the key to success. The Coast Guard, through long experience, has learned that personal relationships are essential to successfully executing operations that require multi-agency cooperation. The goal of the liaison officers is to establish such relationships and provide the link between Coast Guard Area Commanders and foreign representatives. Only by working as one with foreign commercial and government entities can we reduce maritime risk and expand the concept of layered defense on a global scale.

The International Port Security Program coordinates the efforts of the individual liaison officers. This Coast Guard Headquarters program consists of teams that travel to cooperating nations to assess port security programs to identify best practices, as well as shortfalls, in an effort to improve international maritime security.

Our partnerships have also extended to our Department of Defense counterparts, especially the Navy. Two highly successful ventures involve anti-terrorism coordination and the development of a memorandum of agreement for joint training and exercises. These efforts will improve coordination between Homeland Security and Homeland Defense.

After the USS Cole (DDG-67) incident, the Navy significantly stepped up its requirements for domestic Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) for its ships. Recognizing the Coast Guard's maritime law enforcement authorities and unique port security experience, particularly in dealing with the domestic maritime community, the Navy called upon the Coast Guard to support its waterborne requirements. The Coast Guard responded quickly and, though limited in resources, provided armed small-boat assistance while the Navy developed its own domestic capability at major naval bases. The Coast Guard has also been able to help meet the Navy's escort requirements for aircraft carriers and submarines, as well as Military Sealift Command vessels supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

The coordination between the Coast Guard and Navy assets involved in escorting such high-value units has become routine. The requesting Navy Command (Second Fleet or Submarine Forces Atlantic) contacts the responsible Coast Guard district, which in turn directs the appropriate port-level command to provide the escort. The partnership has worked well even on those occasions when vessels have returned unexpectedly. Similarly, working as partners, the Navy and Coast Guard addressed the issue of naval units deploying armed small boats within the continental United States Maritime Transportation System for unit protection. The small boats may be from the vessel itself, elements of the Maritime Security Force, or from a naval base.

Deployment of armed, unmarked small boats without the knowledge of the local port captain had created opportunities for blue-on-blue engagement when Coast Guard patrols came upon them with no means to identify friend from foe. To correct the situation, the services developed an Incident Action Plan that allowed the port captain to formulate a coordinated plan with a naval vessel that provides a foundation should a terrorist event occur. In addition, interoperability was significantly improved by using a simple eleven-line document to assist Navy units in communicating their movements and actions in a standard format to the Coast Guard. The IAP provides basic information such as communication circuits, details on support forces, and movement information. Adoption of an IAP was the first time the Navy used a process from the Incident Command System, a system mandated for use by all federal agencies in accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 and already used by most state and local agencies. Finally, the IAP improved the situational awareness of everyone in a specific port, thereby reducing the risk of blue-on-blue engagement.

A third example of partnerships within AT/FP is the Coast Guard's Special Mission Training Center at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The training center is Coast Guard-led, with Navy and Marine Corps personnel on staff teaching small boat tactics. This is a true partnership, as all maritime services jointly approach a very difficult issue—conducting successful maritime missions in the confines of a port where decisions to fire/not fire must be made in seconds.

The fourth area where great progress has been effected between the Coast Guard and the Department of Defense is in helping to define and bridge the gap between maritime homeland security and maritime homeland defense. The issue has been debated for more than three years. In July 2004, Coast Guard Atlantic Area and Commander Second Fleet took a significant step when a memorandum of agreement was signed that provides personnel and units to conduct joint training and exercises. The memorandum established a Joint Exercise Working Group to coordinate development of Maritime Homeland Security and Maritime Homeland Defense exercises.

In addition to working with Second Fleet, we are also strengthening our partnership with the Navy at the tactical level. This involves developing communication processes and tactical responses between Coast Guard districts and Navy regions, and down at the local level between Navy base installations and local Coast Guard units. Continued participation in national exercises such as Determined Promise '04 allows the Coast Guard to work very closely with all our DoD partners, other federal, state and local authorities. Our recent success in both exercising and deploying with the National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (WMD-CSTs) adds another capability to our national response portfolio. The goal is to work with other agencies in a manner that helps everyone to achieve mission goals and objectives as we increase our homeland security.

There is an old adage that states that the worst time to exchange business cards is after a disaster occurs and you are walking into a Unified Command. We believe that by planning ahead and working with our partners on a regular basis, we can dramatically increase homeland security in and around our ports, and be prepared with an immediate, highly coordinated response at the national level should that be required.

Now you know the rest of the story.

Vice Admiral Vivien Crea is the Commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area. Mr. Chris Doane is Atlantic Area's Chief of Response and Port Security. Mr. Joe DiRenzo III is Atlantic Area's Anti-Terrorism Coordinator.