It’s simple, people will die. The Arctic is already lost to Russia/China, IMO. The Coast Guard is sending ships to the Pacific front near Taiwan with one cannon on the ship to hold off the Chinese navy, if what I have been reading is correct. Time for Congress to pull their thumbs out and get to work. Of course, the way Congress acts, a bill that read “MORE MONEY FOR THE NAVY AND COAST GUARD”, one sentence would turn into two thousand pages and include a lot of bovine scat that has nothing to do with either service. Pardon my bitterness but having sailed on a ship that was using parts scavenged from a WWII heavy cruiser, I speak from experience.
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Every Gov’t entity has one main objective, empire building. I’m afraid the CG is falling into the trap of wanting to be another Naval power. I remember early in my CG career reading how the USCG was the 5th largest Navy in the world. They need to return to their core missions including fisheries enforcement but not the Taiwan straits. Ice breakers are needed more than white painted Naval vessels. The new Naval bullies are painted white now. It’s OK because they are CG ships. Good disguise.
I also sailed on many old WW2 and obsolete vessels none of which are in commission now. After I retired and started sailing tugs in Alaska the tugs and barges were mostly surplus and old as well.
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FWIW, my take on the CG funding/manpower crisis follows…
Since inception, the CG has had an honorable, if turbulent history. When founded as the Revenue Cutter Service, Hamilton had to clean house of politically connected Masters who may, or may not, have been taking bribes to let the occasional smuggler duck in for a bit of quick profit. The essence of that policy continues today as cadets at USCGA, unlike at other service academies, are not admitted based on recommendations from Congressmen and Senators, but rather on their scholastic, or in some cases, military background, and accomplishments.
Through our nation’s wars and armed conflicts the CG has served a specialized role alongside the Navy. In WW II it was easy to slap on some extra guns, some depth charge racks and throwers and, presto, create escorts. Coxswains and crew used to handling small boats in surf made outstanding landing craft crew. In Vietnam CG small vessel experience was useful in coastal patrols and 5" gunned cutters provided fire support to ground troops. Aviators with research and rescue experience also served with the USAF in combat SAR.
It used to be easy to sketch the three core missions of the Coast Guard: SAR, enforcement of federal law “on the high seas and waters, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States”, and ATON. The Steamboat Inspection Service was rolled in prior to WW II and we can discuss for days if that was a success or not.
The world has changed. Budgets have changed. Years ago I pondered writing a piece for Proceedings (US Naval Institute) arguing that a return to the “Big Three” should be considered. A “41 or 44 footer on every corner”, so to speak. Naval warfare is a highly specialized profession, and to expect the crew of modern cutters to practice enough to become 100% proficient in war fighting is not sustainable today. There are too many other competing missions, each vital. Search and rescue, aids to navigation, and enforcement of laws and treaties is a full time job. Spin off the vessel safety/inspection/regulatory CG…call it whatever you like. Focus on the core missions (historical), and stop spreading your people and vessels too thin. It is a HUGE political football and will likely have few supporters, but deploying cutters and crew in harm’s way is not the same today as it was in WW II.
If nothing else, break away licensing/investigations/inspections. It is not working now and perhaps the pressure applied by agitated mariners and their elected officials have made that clear.
A fleet of open water rescue cutters, adequately armed for law enforcement is a far better investment than backfilling for the Navy’s failure to design and build escort ships. The big problem is the money already invested in recapitalizing the cutter fleet…
Long rant, possibly a bit incoherent, but sometimes writing from the gut is cathartic.
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Last time I checked there is also US Pacific Fleet (200 hundred ships, 1500 aircraft and 150 000 personnel) to hold off Chinese.
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I know we have a saying about “the hand that feeds you” but whats a good saying about a symbiotic relationship where both parties are sitting with their legs twisted together feeding each other? Any problems we have with China will be settled at conference tables, voting booths & possibly
by viruses that may or may not have escaped from labs.
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I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you about the Coast Guard getting into “empire building”. Since it’s creation in 1790, the Revenue Cutter Service/Coast Guard has struggled to get a seat at the table. Prohibition was the best thing to ever happen to the Coast Guard. The CG was all but forgotten until Prohibition was voted in and the question was asked, who will enforce the law and prevent bootleggers from shipping the “poison” ( 
) into the country. When someone said that sounds like a job for the Coast Guard it was almost like “The What?” So the Coast Guard actually got “some money”. But ever since then, the CG has struggled for funds. The next “big thing” was the war on drugs. Only when the fit hits the shan does the CG receive recognition and some new boats. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. Have a goodern.
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