The Coast Guard, "Running on Empty"

Newhouse News ^ | 10/21/2005 | Ted Sherman

[Incorrigible]

Go Coasties!

Coasties in the Gulf

The Coast Guard cutter Baranof, homeported in Miami., departs for patrol, March 12 in the Persian Gulf. Approximately 650 Coast Guardsmen on six cutters and two Port Security Units are serving in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Public Affairs Specialist 1st Class Tom Sperduto

http://www.defendamerica.mil/photoessays/march2003/p031303a1.html

 

[weps4ret]

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.

[JAWs]

The USCG has had its first combat fatality since Vietnam in the Gulf- Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan B. Bruckenthal

[playball0]

Obviosly, the Coast Guard needs to be modernized, especially with the expanded missions of terrorism fighting and disaster relief.

[Saynotosocialism]

This article is SO true-my son is in the CG and I am so angry at the conditions that these people have to work in.
Their equipment is in disrepair. Their ships were re-tooled on the OUTSIDE by a yard in Mississippi, at HUGE expense. But now, the ships are rusting from the inside out.....(I love you Trent Lott, but.....) They are always in dry dock, needing repair and are unsafe while at sea.

Please read this excerpt form an article that was printed in the Government Executive Magazine, 2003. This recounting is true

http://www.govexec.com/features/0503/0503s3.htm

By Shane Harris
sharris@govexec.com

Underequipped. Underfunded. Overshadowed. Life on the front lines of the drug war.
f you've got anything to say, say it now!" Chris Fertig stammered while being electrocuted.

Fertig, a Coast Guard lieutenant junior grade, had been riding shotgun in a stubby, 22-foot boat with inflatable sides, plowing through rough Caribbean seas at a neck-snapping 35 knots. He and his four-man crew were chasing drug smugglers racing north from Colombia in a cigar-shaped speedboat called a "go-fast." They believed the boat was packed with cocaine. But with their target in sight, the engine on Fertig's vessel broke down, and the boat went dead in the water.

Cast adrift, Fertig had tried to radio his mother ship, the 270-foot Coast Guard cutter Bear, which was coordinating the chase from dozens of miles away. But the wires connecting his headset to the radio had come apart. So, standing ankle deep in seawater, Fertig took the broken wires in his hands and forced them together. Shock waves pulsed through his bones, and his mates heard him yelling through their head sets to speak up.

[Carry_Okie]

Just a personal opinion having seen a lot of Coast Guard equipment: I would rather see a major spare parts effort with upgraded electronics than see new equipment designed to replace what is clearly sufficient. 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.

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.

[JRandomFreeper]

As a zoomie, recently stationed near Ketchikan, Alaska, I was treated by Costie docs when I had a medical issue. The Captain (NOT A COLONEL!!!!) did a great job, and had me back on the job, very quickly.

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

[Tailback]

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.

[Strategerist]

Quite a bit of money could be saved if pointless tasks such as pursuing drug smugglers in the Carribean were abandoned....

[SuziQ]

Check this one out!

[JDoutrider]

PING!

[Windsong]

Quite a bit of money could be saved if pointless tasks such as pursuing drug smugglers in the Carribean were abandoned"

No thanks. We'll continue to fund those activities despite your Libertarian pro-drug leanings.

[katiedidit1]

God bless you for your service. How sad that our military is always the sacrificial lamb when it comes to funding

[blam]

"Quite a bit of money could be saved if pointless tasks such as pursuing drug smugglers in the Carribean were abandoned...."

Yup. Jus bomb them with AF jets, lol.

[dirtboy]

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.

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).

[60Gunner]

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!

[60Gunner]

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!

[SandwicheGuy]

Just as an aside to all, do you know that you can join the Coast Guard Auxilliary? Their home page

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.

[Fierce Allegiance]

I was a coastie and take issue with your post. Piece by piece, here we go:

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.

[sgtbono2002]

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.