Posted on 10/23/2005 5:16:04 PM PDT by Incorrigible
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The Coast Guard, "Running on Empty"BY TED SHERMAN |
Struggling for years with an aging fleet, the Coast Guard is facing millions in unexpected repairs and upgrades on old patrol boats, helicopters and planes it once planned to replace through a modernization program called Deepwater.
The problems arise just as the Coast Guard -- which won widespread praise for its response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- is being saddled with more and more responsibilities, stretching a patched-up fleet even further.
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| Coast Guardsmen from the cutter Bainbridge Island, in background, check a commercial fishing boat off Sandy Hook, N.J. (Photo by Jerry McCrea) |
"By any measure, the Coast Guard is in an absolute world of hurt," said retired Vice Adm. Howard B. Thorsen, former commander of the Coast Guard's Atlantic Area. "In many ways, the Coast Guard is running on empty."
Earlier this year, Congress was reluctant to fully fund the agency's modernization program, threatening to slash the $966 million Deepwater budget request for fiscal 2006 by nearly half.
But then came Katrina. The quick response of the Coast Guard -- captured live in dramatic footage of hovering helicopters plucking stranded families from the roofs of their flooded homes -- contrasted sharply with the well publicized failures of the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
The Coast Guard performed 24,117 rescues and 9,403 hospital evacuations following Katrina and Rita, marshaling 62 aircraft, 30 cutters, more than 110 boats and 3,470 personnel from as far away as Alaska. And in the wake of harsh criticism, responsibility for post-hurricane relief efforts were unceremoniously yanked from FEMA and handed over to Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen. Both FEMA and the Coast Guard are part of the Homeland Security Department.
Last week, Congress agreed to restore most of the Coast Guard's 2006 Deepwater budget as part of a $30.7 billion homeland security bill.
"Breaking that funding logjam, frankly, was one of the most fortuitous results of the Coast Guard's outstanding performance in the Gulf of Mexico," said Scott Truver, a defense analyst for Anteon Corp. in Fairfax, Va.
Hurricane heroics aside, more and more is being asked of the service, especially in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. An examination of how the Coast Guard allocates its resources shows a vast increase in mission hours -- much of it for coastal security and the interdiction at sea of illegal aliens -- that has been particularly punishing on equipment.
The Coast Guard's renewed focus on national security and defense readiness also has been at the expense of its traditional missions: keeping foreign fleets out of U.S. exclusionary fishing zones, intercepting drug smugglers, even search and rescue, agency numbers show.
While no one claims those missions are being ignored -- indeed the number of drug seizures is up -- the expanded duties are taking a toll. In the past three years, the Coast Guard has dry-docked vessels at least 22 times to repair leaking hulls.
At the same time, it is operating without some three dozen Coast Guard vessels and 1,195 personnel deployed overseas to Iraq.
An analysis by Congress' Government Accountability Office found many Coast Guard assets are in even worse shape than has been reported. The report found:
-- Serious engine problems on the Coast Guard's workhorse Dolphin HH-65 short-range helicopters have forced flight crews to dump fuel or temporarily leave rescue swimmers in the water.
-- The surface radar on the Coast Guard's HC-130 surveillance planes, used to search for vessels in distress or monitor ships for illegal activity, frequently fails. Flight crews then must rely on visual contact -- a situation one crew member described as "trying to locate a boat looking through a straw."
-- One 378-foot cutter, the Jarvis, lost one of its two gas turbines while on patrol in the western Pacific in May. It completed its mission but was restricted to speeds that would have left it unable to respond to a crisis.
Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., chairman of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation subcommittee, has long been pushing for far more funding to replace the Coast Guard fleet, which includes cutters that are more than 30 years old.
"We don't have time to fool around," LoBiondo said.
Unveiled in 2001, the agency's Integrated Deepwater System was envisioned as a $17 billion program to replace aging ships and aircraft over 20 years, tying them all together with a sophisticated communications and data network.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, expanded homeland security responsibilities led to major revisions and a shortened timetable in the Deepwater plan. New classes of cutters -- including those made from composite materials -- as well as unmanned drone aircraft were added and the price tag rose to $25 billion.
But many people, including some members of Congress, say they have reservations about the plan.
RAND Corp. analyst John Birkler, in a report commissioned by the Coast Guard, urged last year that the agency accelerate its acquisition plans. He also recommended it look to new technologies, such as underwater surveillance sensors, to enhance its existing fleets.
"Deepwater's assets are not sufficient," Birkler said in an interview. "Not by a long shot."
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., who sits on the Coast Guard and Maritime subcommittee with LoBiondo, complained that the Coast Guard's modernization plan seems increasingly focused on patching up old equipment instead of buying new.
Nearly 30 percent of the Coast Guard's proposed Deepwater budget for fiscal year 2006 is earmarked for fixing, maintaining and converting existing ships and planes.
Among those fixes are the expensive upgrading -- including new engines and instrumentation -- of the Coast Guard's Dolphin helicopters, which have remained in service despite continuing in-flight power failures.
One such engine loss nearly led to disastrous consequences near Syria two years ago, when Cmdr. Robert "Magic" Makowsky, a veteran pilot stationed at Atlantic City, N.J., was flying patrol off the cutter Dallas in the Mediterranean. Makowsky was in the left seat of his Dolphin with three other people aboard when warning lights suddenly blinked on.
The instruments showed a loss of power in one of two turbine engines -- what pilots call a "torque split," which leaves the aircraft unable to hover or to descend vertically.
The Dolphin is a military version of the French Aerospatiale Dauphin, and has a reputation for such control issues because of problems with the American-built engines substituted to meet the "Buy American" requirements of the contract.
Makowsky's choices that April night were limited. He could land on the beach in Syria, 40 miles away, and risk a diplomatic incident or even arrest. Or he could attempt a risky landing on the Dallas by having the cutter steam into the wind, possibly giving the helicopter enough forward speed to maintain lift until touchdown.
It was a one-shot proposition.
"There's a point where you either get a `9.5' from the judges, or land in the water," Makowsky said.
With co-pilot Kyle Armstrong calling out numbers on the instrument panel, and crew chief Terry Cowart watching the approach angle, Makowsky landed safely, just inches off the center line of the cutter's deck pad.
The aviator was later decorated and the exploit became the focus of a congressional hearing. The Coast Guard consequently opted not to wait for a Deepwater replacement for the Dolphins and began making major modifications to the 20-year-old aircraft.
Other stopgap measures have been less successful.
A plan to modernize 49 cutters -- including lengthening the hulls and replacing the superstructures -- recently was abandoned.
Coast Guard officials claim the contract was canceled because the modified patrol boats could not meet post-9/11 mission requirements.
However, serious structural shortcomings were discovered after the first eight conversions. One of the modified cutters, the Matagorda, sustained extensive hull damage last year -- including a 6-inch crack in the main deck plating -- while trying to evade Hurricane Ivan.
Coast Guard officials said the patrol boat's hull deterioration turned out to be greater than originally estimated, requiring more extensive repairs.
Four of the cutters already modified were immediately placed under operational restrictions, allowing them to get under way only in an emergency.
Oct. 21, 2005
(Ted Sherman is a staff writer for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. He can be contacted at tsherman@starledger.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
Go Coasties!
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http://www.defendamerica.mil/photoessays/march2003/p031303a1.html
I put 28 years in the Coast Guard, retired in 1994. It has always been the case. Do more with less. I actually had to beg 3" 50 gun mount parts off of a Liberty ship that was being cut up, in order to keep my gun mount operable. Then, they would add more jobs, with no more funding. Semper Paratus, but, I loved the Coast Guard.
Obviosly, the Coast Guard needs to be modernized, especially with the expanded missions of terrorism fighting and disaster relief.
The gas turbines in the 600' cutters could have been diesel electric (we don't need a ship that can accelerate to 40 knots in its own length). They could have used more steel boats instead of aluminum. They would probably benefit from more rugged boats rather than faster ones. OTOH, I'm all for improved detection and communications equipment. IF they do need new designs because new materials reduce maintenance costs significantly, then that's another matter, but somehow military procurement being what it is, that just doesn't seem to be the way they do things.
We need to get our services more focused upon the platform model that has made the B-52 such a successful workhorse.
The dining hall was great, the food was good, the club was passable for a remote site, and the coasties were friendly.
Since I commuted about 9.8Kts on a regular basis, I felt pretty secure that the coasties were close. We never had a reason to use them, during all of our surges and transports, but it was good to know that a white and red helicopter was flying over our LCM. Sorta like having a guardian angel.
Semper Paratus. This zoomie likes coasties.
/john
I spent 14 years in the Army and Army National guard and so far another 4 years in the Air National Guard. I'm here to tell you that the Coast Guard are the most unsung hero's in the USA. I grew up on the Oregon coast and I personally know of 4 close friends who's lives were saved by Coast Guard rescue boats and/or helicoptors and rescue swimmers.
In other words I love the Men and Women of the Coast Guard that every single day save American lives.
Quite a bit of money could be saved if pointless tasks such as pursuing drug smugglers in the Carribean were abandoned....
Check this one out!
PING!
No thanks. We'll continue to fund those activities despite your Libertarian pro-drug leanings.
God bless you for your service. How sad that our military is always the sacrificial lamb when it comes to funding
Yup. Jus bomb them with AF jets, lol.
Screw that.
Up their budget by 33 percent for next year. And develop a three-year plan to give them more resources to deal with the 72 hours after a disaster hits.
And take that bridge in Alaska and shove it (and I've been to Ketchikan so I know it goes to the airport - but if you wanna live in Alaska, you should know that you have to take the slow boat sometimes).
Screw the idea of the CG being part of the Department of HOmeland Security. I say, Pull 'em outta there and make 'em a by-Gawd free-standing branch of the US Armed Forces.
Give the Coasties their due! They deserve the BEST!
Screw the idea of the CG being part of the Department of HOmeland Security. I say, Pull 'em outta there and make 'em a by-Gawd free-standing branch of the US Armed Forces.
Give the Coasties their due! They deserve the BEST!
United States Coart Guard Auxilliary Home Page
has all the information you need to join. You can help the Coasties (who really appreciate the help,) have fun, meet interesting people, and get trained in everything from First Aid to ship handling.
There is even an Air component where you can help in search and rescue and such, and if you are a pilot, get reimbursed for your fuel. It is a great organization.
There really isn't a need to replace the design for the 40' rough water boat, or the 41' patrol boat. They both do a good job.
I think you refer to the 44' mlb. It was a good boat but slower than snail poop. It did 11 kts, IIRC. The new replacement is the 47' MLB. It now has a speed of approx 25 kts. That will save lives, and that's the primary mission. the 41' Utility boatis a decent design. I don't think they are replacing that as we speak. They have been around a long time, so thepoint of rugged over sturdy is moot, aside from the fact that speed is critical to saving lives. Would you want the ambulance in you town to have a top speed of 12 miles an hour?
The gas turbines in the 600' cutters could have been diesel electric (we don't need a ship that can accelerate to 40 knots in its own length).
I believe you are referring to the 2 polar ice breakers in the fleet. Having the capacity to acclerate hard to climb up thepack ice is critical to the mission. That's why the US icebreakers often have to rescue the russians, because they don't have the capabilities we have.
The b-52 is still around because it is the best thing we have going for that role.I'm glad ourmilitary planners don't use your philosophy of rugged and durable, but slow and outdated. We would still be using trebuchets with rocks for main battle weapons and dugout canoes for surf rescue.
BTW, I was in the USCG starting 1985, and the ship I was on was commissioned in 1939. We made due with what we had or could acquire via midnight requisition.
They call it a war on drugs then they cut Coast guard funds. Are politicians doing this to prevent drug seizures? IMO they are. The Coast Guard has been sucking hind teat for years, the more they are successful the more they are cut. If it isnt a conspiracy to allow more drugs into this country it certainly appears to be.
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