The Coast Guard Issue

August 2022

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Naval Institute Coast Guard Essay Contest!

CEO Notes

August 2022

Happy 232nd Birthday, U.S. Coast Guard! Semper Paratus.

Comment & Discussion

August 2022

Readers respond to articles on Maritime COIN, deterrence, and more.

Offshore Patrol Cutter Argus Nears Completion

By Brian O’Rourke

August 2022

Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City, Florida, expects to christen the future Argus (WMSM-915), the first Coast Guard offshore patrol cutter (OPC), later this year.

You Cannot Surge What You Do Not Have

By Rear Admiral John Polowczyk, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2022

The pandemic has shown the nation that it needs a naval logistics strategy to go along with its naval warfighting strategy. Supply chains matter.

Niue Should be a Shiprider Partner

By Joseph Espino

August 2022

Establishing a shiprider agreement with Niue—a self-governing island nation in free association with New Zealand—could be a national security opportunity for the United States.

Revamp Officer Service Assignments

By Lieutenant (j.g.) Josh Hano, U.S. Navy

August 2022

Opening the service assignment process for midshipmen and communities to have a dialogue about assignment desires and needs is an important change that needs to be made.

It Is Time to Move the Coast Guard to DoD

By Captain John Garofolo, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)

August 2022

Coast Guard members and their dependents also have been left out of nonmilitary programs designed to support service members and their families.

This is a Warship, Not a Cruise Ship: Investing in Enlisted Sailors

By Petty Officer Third Class Sahian Nanez, U.S. Navy

August 2022

The welfare and development of enlisted sailors must be a larger priority for Navy leaders.

Expeditionary Cutter Deployments Should Not Be a Mission to Mars

By Commander Craig Allen Jr., U.S. Coast Guard

August 2022

Coast Guard Essay Contest—First Prize, Sponsored by Susan Curtin and the U.S. Naval Institute. The service must invest in cutter self-sustainability as missions become more global.

The World’s Fishermen as a Maritime Sensor Network

By Lieutenant Holden Takahashi, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2022

Coast Guard Essay Contest—Second Prize, Co-Sponsored by Susan Curtin and the U.S. Naval Institute. A crowdsourcing platform could help counter Chinese IUU fishing.

Lost At Sea: Teaching, Studying, and Promoting Coast Guard History

By Lieutenant Christopher Booth, U.S. Coast Guard, and Auxiliarist Mark Snell, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary

August 2022

Coast Guard Essay Contest—Third Prize, Co-Sponsored by Susan Curtin and the U.S. Naval Institute. The service must foster pride in its heritage among new recruits and officers.

A Campaign Plan for the South China Sea

By Captain Joshua Taylor, U.S. Navy

August 2022

U.S. forces must act more deliberately to counter China’s maritime insurgency.

Innovation: People Are More Important than Technology

By General Anthony Zinni, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired), Mie Augier, and Major Sean F. X. Barrett, U.S. Marine Corps

August 2022

Innovation is an important part of national security, but people are key.

American Sea Power Dialogue

August 2022

Readers respond to recent content from the American Sea Power Project.

Every Sailor a Firefighter

By Commander Joel I. Holwitt and Captain Mary K. Hays, U.S. Navy

August 2022

The Navy needs firefighting proficiency across every watch team.

The Coast Guard’s Firefighting Fiction

By Chief Boatswain’s Mate Phillip Null, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)

August 2022

The Coast Guard can and should fight fires at sea.

Bipolar General: What Can We Learn?

By Major General Gregg F. Martin, U.S. Army (Retired)

August 2022

An Army general’s mental wellness journey, and what the military can do to help.

Empathy Is the Missing Piece to Suicide Prevention

By Andrea N. Goldstein

August 2022

Sea Service leaders must directly engage their subordinates about mental health.

Serve First, Lead Second, Be Humble

By Captain Samson Stevens, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2022

Inculcating the three bases into our organizational frameworks will provide much-needed reinforcement to our nation and the people we serve.

Mistakes Are Not Optional

By Commander Luke Kelvington, U.S. Navy

August 2022

Leaders who address fallibility, starting with the check-in process, can help inculcate new team members into a culture willing to admit, face, and learn from mistakes.

In the Digital Age, Make Ships Go Dark

By Lieutenant Patrick A. Goldman, U.S. Navy

August 2022

Ships must make it standard practice to leave port and immediately set a high level of emissions control.

The Case for Coast Guard Deployable Specialized Forces

By Lieutenant Commander Rafael Shamilov, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2022

The Coast Guard needs to exercise the use of deployable specialized forces units in tandem more regularly.

Make Navy Medicine Ready to Fight Tonight

By Lieutenant Commander Scott A. Wallace, U.S. Navy

August 2022

Despite a new focus on operational medicine, most Navy physicians do not keep their operational credentials active while in a hospital setting.

Book Reviews

August 2022

Experts review War Without Rules, The American War in Afghanistan, and other new and noteworthy books.

Where We Were

By A. Denis Clift

August 2022

A look back at the August issues of Proceedings from 1922, 1972, and 1997.

From Our Archive

August 2022

Photo of two Coast Guardsmen providing aid to a sailor during World War II.

Get Moving with Human-Machine Teaming

By Captain George Galdorisi, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2022

A closer human coupling is precisely what manned-unmanned teaming can bring, but only if aspirational vision is matched by concrete actions.

France’s New SSN Flexes Undersea Capabilities

By Eric Wertheim

August 2022

Commissioned into service at Brest on 3 June, the attack submarine Suffren is the first of six next-generation Barracuda-class submarines for the French Marine Nationale.

The New LCAC Picks Up Steam

By Edward J. Walsh

August 2022

The Navy and Marine Corps have long considered the LCAC a critical cog in the Sea Services’ amphibious warfare machine.

In Her Own Words: Susan J. Curtin

August 2022

Susan Curtin is the daughter of the late J. D. “Dave” Power III (shown in uniform in the mid-1950s), whose name and company are synonymous with quality.

Coast Guard DDs Hunting Foreign Rummies

By A. Denis Clift

August 2022

Future Captain Walter C. Capron recalls his time on the USCGC Conyngham during the Prohibition.

Asked & Answered

August 2022

The Coast Guard has 11 statutory missions. What mission should be added and/or removed from its responsibility?

Mothers Deserve Better from the Navy

By Ensign Victoria Cavazos, U.S. Navy

August 2022

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION ESSAY CONTEST—SECOND PRIZE SPONSORED, BY RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES. The marginalization of motherhood in the Sea Services is draining some of its best talent.

The Atrophy of Mission Command

By Captains Rob Peters and Benjamin Miller, U.S. Navy, and Lieutenant Colonel Brian Hanrahan, U.S. Army

August 2022

The joint force is not prepared to win a peer conflict in a communication-denied environment. A cultural revolution is required to bring back mission command.

NATO Navies Send Strategic Signals in the Indo-Pacific

By William R. Hawkins

August 2022

NATO increasingly is looking to the security situation in the Indo-Pacific. Navies are the force of choice to signal China not to overstep.

Don’t Give Up the (Friend)Ship!

By Lieutenant Julie Roland, U.S. Navy

August 2022

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION ESSAY CONTEST—THIRD PRIZE SPONSORED, BY RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES. Leaders should encourage their sailors to socialize together to promote inclusion and unit cohesion.

The Navy Needs a Cyber Course Correction

By Lieutenant Commander Derek Bernsen, U.S. Navy

August 2022

The Navy is also the only military branch without offensive cyber units—without which cyber personnel have limited ability to show their value to the fleet.

Don’t Assume Women Don’t Want the Hard Jobs

By Lieutenant Commander Jean Anne Kim, U.S. Navy

August 2022

When leaders make assumptions about what is feasible for junior sailors based on surface-level demographics, they do their sailors a disservice.

Suicide: The Threat the Coast Guard Is Not Talking About

By Lieutenant (j.g.) Riley Cassidy, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2022

Senior Coast Guard leaders need to give suicide survivors the support they need to grieve, while staying respected as uniformed service members.

The Dangerous Depletion of U.S. Weapon Arsenals

By Ashley G. Johnson

August 2022

U.S. government-owned weapon arsenals are not capable of rapidly surging production, and the private sector has no incentive to maintain excess production capacity.

To Counter China in Latin America, Focus on Argentina

By Captain Frank Okata, U.S. Navy

August 2022

The United States and United Kingdom need to get past the Falklands War and engage more deeply in military cooperation with Argentina—to counter China.

Inclusion and Diversity Policy as Great Power Competition

By Lieutenant Commander Aaron Marchant, U.S. Navy

August 2022

Failing to live up to its stated ideals of diversity and inclusion undercuts the Sea Services in great power competition.

A New Naval Statecraft to Compete with China

By Captain Brent Sadler, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2022

The Navy can shape the environment in which security, diplomacy, and economics interact.

Rebalancing the Science and Art of War for Decision Advantage

By Vice Admiral Ann Rondeau, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2022

In the Cognitive Era, education is equally vital to decision advantage as technology. The Navy and Marine Corps must invest more deeply in its warrior-scholar future.