Posted by kelphead on July 05, 2001 at 20:14:04:
"it's time to buoy up the coast guard"
by bernard gavzer
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each day, our "fifth armed service" quietly lives up to its motto, "always ready." but with obsolete equipment, years of reduced budgets--and an expanding mission--how long can it continue to do so much with so little?
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as huge waves pounded the 600-foot cruise ship 'sea breeze I' last
december, a coast guard rescue team was fighting 50-mph winds to
reach the ship's captain and his 33-member crew. (there were no
passengers on board.) mechanical problems had stranded the ship off
cape charles, va., and coast guard helicopters struggled to stay steady while rescue swimmers darren reeves and robert florisi were lowered to the deck. reeves and florisi then worked to load the terrified crew into rescue baskets. after 25 minutes, the captain--the last to be hoisted up--was pulled into the helicopter and safety. the 'sea breeze I' sank not long after.
it's the kind of dramatic rescue for which the coast guard is justly
renowned. coasties, as members of our "fifth armed service" call
themselves, regularly travel in harm's way. each year, on average, they answer 70,000 distress calls and save 3600 lives.
what is not as widely known is that the coast guard does much more.
"we fight a war every minute of every day," said adm. james m. loy, the coast guard commandant. "we enforce all federal laws on the high seas." the commandant noted just a few of the challenges the coast guard met in the last year: "we responded to a potentially disastrous oil spill near the galapagos islands. we seized the fishing vessel 'arctic wind' as she was violating international law by using high-seas drift nets. icebreakers opened passage for delivery of fuel and goods from the arctic. search-and-pursuit teams in the caribbean blocked the entry of illicit drugs and migrants."
there's a lot to be proud of, but the truth is that while the coast guard is not sinking, it is listing. severe budget cuts (as much as $400 million annually between 1995 and 1999) have left the service with a critical shortage of trained personnel as well as outdated communications equipment and antiquated aircraft, cutters and small boats--some of world war II vintage.
at the same time, its missions have expanded. the coast guard not only
has to keep watch over more than 95,000 miles of ocean and lake
shoreline, chase sophisticated smugglers, tackle environmental threats
and safeguard our fisheries but also is being called upon to play a
greater role in national security. "we face new challenges, particularly terrorism," said admiral loy, who noted that coast guard port security units, charged with keeping ports and harbors free of hostile threats and terrorist actions, recently were deployed to the middle east.
the coast guard is uniqe among the military services: it is the smallest, with fewer than 36,000 personnel on active duty (that's less than the police force of new york city); it's a law-enforcement agency as well as an armed military force; and it is not part of the defense department but instead comes under the domain of the transportation department. (because one of its original missions was to collect tariffs, it was organized in 1790 within the treasury department, then was moved to the transportation department in 1967.)
a small step forward may come from president bush's budget, which
includes an increase of 12% overall for the coast guard, as well as
funding for the "deepwater" program, a plan to replace the aging
equipment deployed more than 50 miles offshore with an integrated
suite of ships, aircraft and sensor systems. the appropriation is now
going through the house and senate and may reach the president's desk
by early fall. the coast guard men and women i spoke with feel that the public might rally behind them if it learned more about all they do.
aboard the cutter 'forward', on patrol for smugglers in the caribbean, the captain, cmdr. dan macleod, 42, told me what they could accomplish if they got the necessary funding: "with state-of-the-art equipment and intelligence gathering, we could do a far more effecitve job of crippling smuggling operations."
sarah a. corteville, 22, an ensign on the icebreaker/research vessel
'healy', at anchor in seattle, spoke proudly of the coast guard's unique role. "we're the only service that has a true peace-time mission," she said. "we do something every day instead of preparing for war."
at cape disappointment, wash., petty officer sara faulkner, 23--in
advanced training to be a rescue swimmer--seemed eager to get to work
saving lives. "hanging from a helicopter or dropping from it into the
water is just awesome," she said. boatswain mate first class joel
abstetar, 29, has seen plenty of rescues during his six years on a
lifeboat crew. "the first time i went to the boats, i have to admit, i was scared," he said, describing how the 47-foot lifeboats can ride over 20-foot swells. despite the dangers, the rescue swimmer and lifeboat schools both have long waiting lists for entry.
"the men and women of the coast guard are heroes," said sen. frank
murkowski (r.,alaska), himself a former coastie. "they contend with long hours of solitude interspersed with moments of gut-wrenching terror. we are forever in their debt."
and, despite the outdated equipment and shortages of personnel that
continue to challenge them, the men and women of the coast guard
pride themselves on getting the job done every day. "we live by a
motto, semper paratus, that says we are always prepared," said admiral
loy. "these young americans are warriors, constables, lifesavers,
regulators and environmentalists. you can sleep well. they are on
watch."
reprinted from the weekly sunday publication, "parade" (los angeles
times), july 1, 2001, pp. 4-5.
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kelphead.