Often in August, we remind readers that the entire U.S. Coast Guard manages 11 statutory missions and responsibilities that span the globe with about the same number of people as the New York City Police Department. This year, however, the Coast Guard’s ongoing manning shortage (a deficit of about 10 percent) means the service is covering from “polar bears to penguins” across the globe, with fewer people than NYPD Blue. That reality is reflected in the articles in this issue.
The winners of the Coast Guard Essay Contest, sponsored by Susan Curtin and the Naval Institute, offer ways the service can make better use of personnel, technology, and command and control. The first-prize winners are Coast Guard Lieutenants Evan Twarog and Drew Cheneler. Their essay, “Where the Coast Guard’s TechRev Fell Short—and a Path to a New One,” is about the service’s ongoing Technology Revolution program. According to the authors, it has made important strides in the past five years, but it is time to set new goals for software development, data analytics, the workforce, and the chief technology officer. Then-Cadet Twarog published his first Proceedings article in 2018, and it is great to see him continuing to write.
Coast Guard Lieutenant Jacob Skimmons took second prize with “How Smart Data Can Drive Smart Maintenance on Cutters.” We applaud the collaboration between a team of MIT researchers and a group of Coast Guard officers/graduate students who have figured out what data to collect and focused on enhancing maintenance efficiency in the cutter fleet. The anecdote about an electrical ground in a cutter’s dishwasher makes this essay very relatable, as well.
Third-prize winner, Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Craig Johnson, takes a big-picture perspective on the command-and-control structure of the service in “There’s a Better Way to Organize the Coast Guard.” He recommends eliminating district commands and adding new three-star commands to focus on areas of national interest. Instead of just having the Atlantic and Pacific area commands, Johnson’s proposal would include Atlantic, Pacific, High Latitude, Southern Border, and Littoral Surge Commands— all reporting directly to Coast Guard Headquarters. Today’s technology, argues Johnson, makes district commands largely redundant.
In “Make Jayhawks from Pave Hawks,” retired Coast Guard Captain Dave Cooper and three New York Air National Guard officers point to an opportunity for the Coast Guard to take up to 21 rescue-equipped HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters from the Air National Guard and convert them to MH-60T Jayhawks. This proposal would offer fiscal and operational relief for the Coast Guard’s overtaxed rotary-wing fleet.
For the second month in a row, seaplanes make an appearance in our pages. This time, Navy Captain Matt Wright, Commander Tom Van Hoozer, and Lieutenant Commander Sam Calaway offer ways to “Fix the Long-Range Combat Search-and-Rescue Deficit in the Pacific.” Solutions include range improvements to current helicopters, lily-pad operations, and acquiring Japanese ShinMaywa US-2 flying boats. The Navy retired its last flying boats in the 1960s, but a growing number of experts see their utility in search-and-rescue, logistics, antisubmarine and antisurface warfare, and mobility for stand-in forces. If you agree or disagree with those points, or any others in these pages, please submit a letter to Comment & Discussion. Email up to 500 words to [email protected]. This is a vital part of the open forum, and we encourage you to share your thoughts and opinions.
