The forgotten Service Coast Guard Takes Low Profile but Gets the Job Done

By Jim Evans

Somehow it gets lost in the shuffle with the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines seemingly getting all the publicity in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but as the oldest “continuous” seagoing service in the United States, the Coast Guard continues to do its share behind the scenes — and more.

Most Americans might not know it, but the Coast Guard has been directly involved in the war in Iraq. More than 1,250 Coast Guard personnel have been deployed to Iraq with two casualties through June 3, 2004.

On May 5, 2004, the Purple Heart was awarded to BM3 Joseph Ruggiero for injuries received while defending Khawr Al Amaya oil terminal in Iraq on April 24. His shipmate, DC3 Nathan Bruckenthall, was killed in the line of duty in the same bombing and was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.

What would the “Coast” Guard be doing in Iraq? Aren’t its members supposed to protect our own coastline? Yes, but in times of war, the Coast Guard operates under the Navy Department and assumes additional responsibilities. In Iraq, Coast Guard duties include doing coastal security patrols, seizing cargo prohibited under U.N. sanctions, intercepting Iraq mine-laying vessels, clearing coastal caves, and handling oil field security.

But not to worry. The Coast Guard continues to meet its continuing responsibilities as part of the Department of Homeland Security as the front-line agency for enforcing the laws at sea, protecting our coastline and ports, and saving lives. In fact, most Americans would be surprised to know all of the different responsibilities of the Coast Guard.

Founded Aug. 4, 1790 — a full eight years before the Navy — the Coast Guard was variously called the Revenue Marine Service and the Revenue Cutter Service before it officially became the Coast Guard in 1915 under an act of Congress. The name change came when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the Life-Saving Service. At that time, the Coast Guard’s primary responsibilities were saving lives at sea and enforcing the nation’s maritime laws.

In 1939, the Lighthouse Service was transferred to the Coast Guard, putting it in charge of operating all of the nation’s lighthouses. In 1946, Congress transferred the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation to the Coast Guard, making it responsible for all merchant marine licensing and merchant vessel safety.

The modern Coast Guard is charged with the five fundamental roles of maritime safety, national defense, maritime security, mobility, and protection of natural resources. However, within these roles fall a multitude of diverse responsibilities including boating safety; bridge administration (all bridges and causeways across the navigational waters of the United States); enforcement of environmental laws involving protected marine species, oil spills and more; fisheries enforcement; ice operations in the polar regions; and drug interdiction.

Drug interdiction has been one of the Coast Guard’s more high-profile duties. In 2004, the Coast Guard was involved in the largest cocaine seizure in U.S. history when more than 30,000 pounds — 15 tons — were taken from a ship 300 miles southwest of the Galapagos Islands, and more than 25,250 pounds of cocaine were seized from a sister ship 500 miles west of the islands.

The Coast Guard’s mission statement probably puts it all in a nutshell: “The United States Coast Guard is a military, multipurpose, maritime service within the Department of Transportation and is one of the nation’s five armed services. Its core roles are to protect the public, the environment, and U.S. economic and security interests in any maritime region in which those interests might be at risk, including international waters and America’s coasts, ports, and inland waterways.”

Perhaps the Coast Guard might considered the little guy who could, did and still can get the job done even in the shadow of its larger military brethren. After all, size isn’t everything.