Missions of the United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is the coastal defense, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement branch of the United States Armed Forces and is one of the country's eight uniformed services. It carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are:

• Maritime safety
• Maritime security
• Maritime stewardship

The eleven statutory missions as defined by law are divided into homeland security missions and non-homeland security missions.

.

A given unit within the Coast Guard may be carrying out several missions at once. For example, a 25-foot (7.6 m) RHIB assigned to maritime security may also watch for out-of-place or missing aids to navigation, pollution, and unsafe boating practices.

Maritime safety

Search and rescue

See National Search and Rescue Committee

as the federal agency responsible for inland SAR. Both agencies maintain Rescue Coordination Centers to coordinate this effort.

Inshore rescues are usually performed by 25-foot, 29-foot, 45-foot, and 47-foot boats. HH-60 and HH-65 helicopters serve on both the high seas and inshore. Any Coast Guard asset in the vicinity of a case may respond.

Search and rescue operations are numerous and varied. A sample of operations in February 2005 included:

• Coast Guard Station Chetco River, Oregon, dispatched its rigid-hull inflatable boat with a crew and an emergency medical technician on board to evacuate a fisherman whose hand was nearly amputated in an accident. The fisherman's hand was reattached.
• A helicopter rescued two recreational snowmobilers in
  Anchor Bay, Michigan
  , whose vehicle crashed through the ice.
• Boats from Coast Guard Station Point Allerton in Hull came to the assistance of the fishing vessel Lady Lorraine, which was on fire off Scituate, Massachusetts.
• Aircraft from
  Humboldt Bay, California
  , searched waters off Oregon for a missing light aircraft.

Large-scale search and rescue operations occur less frequently, but often involve many Coast Guard vessels and aircraft from a large area. Helicopters and rescue swimmers participated in the 36-hour rescue of six crew members from the 570-foot (170 m) tanker Bow Mariner, which exploded and sank off of Chincoteague, Virginia, on February 28, 2004. Two rescue swimmers were awarded the Coast Guard Medal for their efforts to keep the rescued mariners alive.^{[citation needed]}

Another large-scale operation took place in December 2004 in the

]

Occasionally, Coast Guard rescuers are used in non-maritime situations. On January 11, 2007, the

Marine safety

Coast Guard personnel inspect commercial vessels, respond to pollution, investigate marine casualties and merchant mariners, manage waterways, and license merchant mariners. Coast Guard officials also draft recommendations for the transit of hazardous cargo by ship, such as

).

Among the activities of the Coast Guard is inspection of commercial boats carrying passengers for hire. Vessels carrying more than six passengers must show a Certificate of Inspection; this indicates the crews of such vessels have undergone drug testing, that the vessel's firefighting and lifesaving equipment is adequate and in good condition, and machinery, hull construction, wiring, stability, safety railings, and navigation equipment meet Federal standards.^[4]

The Coast Guard performs its marine safety mission by conducting the following activities:

• Cargo
  and Special use vessels. There are two kinds of inspections: Safety and Security.
• Marine investigation: Marine casualty investigation and personnel actions.
• Waterways Management: Provides marine safety information to the public, and conducts marine event permitting, bridge administration and marine transportation system services.
• Port safety: Prevent accidental damage to ports.
• Merchant mariner credentialing: The Coast Guard is responsible for evaluating, certifying, and credentialing mariners that work on U.S. merchant ships.

Recreational boating safety

The Coast Guard, through the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, along with the United States Power Squadrons, perform Vessel Safety Checks (VSC) on recreational boaters throughout the country. Qualified Vessel Safety Check inspectors check for proper registration, an adequate number and type of personal flotation devices (PFDs), loaded fire extinguishers, and the ability to send a distress signal, either visibly by flare or flag, or by radio. Although Auxiliarist and United States Power Squadron VSC inspectors do not have law enforcement authority, Coast Guardsmen can issue citations to vessels without adequate equipment, and in extraordinary cases terminate a voyage and order a recreational boat to return to port. Auxiliarists also visit marine dealers and retailers to ensure that an updated schedule of all public education courses and VSC stations with contact phone numbers is displayed at the marine dealer, as well as other Coast Guard publications on recreational boating safety and federal boating laws.^[5]

Ice operations

United States

See

National Ice Center

International

See International Ice Patrol

Icebergs off the

have always posed a problem for shipping. In 1833, the Lady of the Lake struck an iceberg and sank with the loss of 70 lives. Between 1882 and 1890, four more cargo vessels were sunk and 40 more damaged.

Following the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912, an international conference of major Atlantic maritime powers agreed to fund USCG patrols to locate and report icebergs in the North Atlantic, in particular off the Grand Banks. The International Ice Patrol was founded as a result of this conference.

The first ships for the International Ice Patrol were the U.S. Navy cruisers USS Chester and USS Birmingham, which were dispatched for the remainder of the 1912 season. The Navy could not spare ships for these patrols in 1913, and the Revenue Cutter Service assigned USRC Seneca and USRC Miami to patrol. The Revenue Cutter Service was tasked with maintaining the IIP on February 7, 1914.

The IIP was continued into 1941, during the World War II, to allow the United States a legal pretext to sail to Greenland. In 1946, the IIP resumed operations flying three modified B-17 bombers and using cutters such as the

Maritime mobility

The Coast Guard maintains the

.

Homeland and maritime security

Maritime security missions are coordinated through the Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement, which is part of the Operations Directorate headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Immediately after the

.

Maritime security patrols increase in number and intensity around special events, such as the

.

Coast Guard

.

As part of the Coast Guard's Deepwater program, cutters will carry 70 unarmed surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles.

Port and waterways security

The Coast Guard is responsible for the security of 361 U.S. ports and 95,000 statute miles (150,000 km) of waterways.

The local Coast Guard commander has

to the nearest Coast Guard station.

The Coast Guard has dedicated

Naval Coastal Warfare

command structure. Coast Guard members assigned to NCWRONs have served in the Persian Gulf, the Balkans, Korea and elsewhere around the world. Both PSUs and NCWRONs are primarily staffed by Reserve personnel.

Another element in security are Maritime Safety and Security Teams.

In 2006, the U.S. Coast Guard's Ninth District and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police began a program called "Shiprider", in which a 12 Mounties from the RCMP detachment at Windsor and 16 Coast Guard boarding officers from stations in Michigan ride in each other's vessels. The intent is to allow for seamless enforcement of the international border.^[7]

Drug interdiction

The Coast Guard is the lead agency in maritime drug interdiction. It shares legal responsibility with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Coast Guard units coordinate their Caribbean Sea activities with the U.S. Navy, the Royal Navy, and the Royal Netherlands Navy.

Coast Guard missions were responsible for about 52% of the

, seized 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) of cocaine from a vessel. The Hamilton launched a helicopter that fired at and disabled the vessel's engine. Another vessel with 2,600 pounds (1,200 kg) of cocaine was also seized.

The

interdictions.

Posse Comitatus

The Posse Comitatus Act and related policies generally prohibit the Department of Defense branches of the United States armed forces from enforcing U.S. laws, but these restrictions do not apply to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard provides Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETs) to U.S. Navy ships and the LEDETs do the actual boarding, interdiction and arrests with the assistance of the Navy.

Alien migrant interdiction

The Coast Guard, especially its Florida-based Seventh District, enforces U.S. immigration law at sea. Major areas of operations are off the Florida coast, the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and Guam. Many of these missions are also search-and-rescue missions, since many migrants take to sea in unseaworthy vessels.

However, interdiction does not always succeed. In October 2002, for example, a 50-foot (15 m) wooden freighter carrying 220 undocumented Haitians ran aground near Miami.

U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and Living Marine Resource

The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for at-sea enforcement of U.S. fisheries laws. The Coast Guard's legal authority to enforce fisheries laws flows from the

, which extended U.S. authority over fisheries to the 200 miles (370.4 kilometers) authorized by international law. Their missions include:

1. Protecting the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone from foreign encroachment
2. Enforcing domestic fisheries law
3. Maintaining international fisheries agreements

Law and treaty enforcement

Law and treaty enforcement account for about 1/3 of the Coast Guard's budget. Title 14, U.S. Code, Section 2 states: "The Coast Guard shall enforce or assist in the enforcement of all applicable laws on, under and over the high seas and waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States."

National defense

During wartime, by order of the President, the Coast Guard can fall under the operational orders of the

until late-2004) which oversee defense efforts in foreign littoral combat and inshore areas.

In 2002, the Coast Guard provided several 110-foot (34 m)

from the elite Tactical Law Enforcement Teams (TACLETs) have also been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2006, the USCGC Midgett (WHEC 726) deployed to the Pacific and Indian Ocean as part of the USS Boxer (LHD 4) Expeditionary Strike Group, where it cross-trained with the Indian Coast Guard cutter Samar.[10]

In July 2007, Coast Guardsmen, attached to the Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) out of Honolulu, Hawaii, and U.S. Navy Sailors, embarked aboard the dock-landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), took part of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2007 task group to conduct visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) training with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG) July 20 at PCG headquarters on the former Brani Naval Base.^[11]

Special forces

• The Coast Guard is not a regular part of the
  Deployable Operations Group (DOG). Additionally, in 2008 the Coast Guard announced a memorandum of understanding with the Navy and U.S. Special Operations Command which allows a limited number of Coast Guard personnel to train and serve as Navy SEALs
  .
• The Coast Guard sometimes engages in the training of indigenous forces and joint operations, activities that overlap with the special forces.[10]^[12]

Expanded arctic operations

On October 25, 2007, a Coast Guard HC-130 from Coast Guard Air Station

Protection of natural resources

Marine pollution education, prevention, response and enforcement

marine environmental protection

mission.

For example, on November 26, 2004, the Athos I, a 750-foot (230 m) cargo vessel of Cypriot registry, lost 30,000 gallons (114 m³) of

, and from Citgo. The Coast Guard's role was firstly, to minimize the damage from the spill, by setting up protective booms around the spill, and secondly, to work with the New Jersey State Police in air and boat patrols to assess the damage.

National Response Center

Operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Response Center (NRC) is the sole

U.S. Government

point of contact for reporting environmental spills, contamination, and pollution

The primary function of the National Response Center (NRC) is to serve as the sole national point of contact for reporting all oil, chemical, radiological, biological, and etiological discharges into the environment anywhere in the United States and its territories. In addition to gathering and distributing spill data for Federal On Scene Coordinators and serving as the communications and operations center for the National Response Team, the NRC maintains agreements with a variety of federal entities to make additional notifications regarding incidents meeting established trigger criteria. The NRC also takes Terrorist/Suspicious Activity Reports and Maritime Security Breach Reports. Details on the NRC organization and specific responsibilities can be found in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan.^[14]

• U.S. National Response Team
• Federal On Scene Coordinator
• National Response Framework

Foreign vessel examinations

According to Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations, vessels entering American waters must provide in advance to the Coast Guard data about the ship's cargo, the names and passport numbers of each crew member, details about the ship's ownership and agents, and a list of recent port calls in a "Notice of Arrival" form. This information is collated in the National Vessel Movement Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and shared with U.S. Naval Intelligence in Suitland, Maryland as well as with the Port State Control (PSC) offices in major ports throughout the United States. From there, the Captain of the Port or his representatives in the PSC determines if the vessel involved needs a security exam, a safety exam, or both. Vessels must be examined every 6 months.

In September 2002, Coast Guard Port State Control Examiners searched a container ship in New Jersey based on intelligence information and because the inspectors detected radiation in the vessel. The cargo turned out to be ceramic tiles.

See also: Port State Control

Living marine resources protection

See above under U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and Living Marine Resource

Marine and environmental science

The Coast Guard is the only one of the armed services that has an enlisted rate for environmental technician.

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Coast Guard.