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133-563: The United States Coast Guard ( USCG ) is the maritime security , search and rescue , and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services . The service is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the United States military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters and

266-588: A federal regulatory agency mission as part of its duties. It is the largest coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies . The U.S. Coast Guard is a humanitarian and security service. It protects the United States ' borders and economic and security interests abroad; and defends its sovereignty by safeguarding sea lines of communication and commerce across U.S. territorial waters and its Exclusive Economic Zone . Due to ever-expanding risk imposed by transnational threats through

399-516: A role d'equipage listing the nationalities of each crewmen. Since American ships rarely carried such documents, France had effectively initiated a commerce war. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict ended in the 1797 dispute known as the XYZ Affair . However, the hostilities created support for establishing a limited naval force, and on 18 June, President John Adams appointed Benjamin Stoddert

532-522: A "system of cutters," each ship operated under the direction of the customs officials in the port to which it was assigned. Several names, including "Revenue-Marine," were used as the service gradually becoming more organized. Eventually it was officially organized as the United States Revenue Cutter Service . In addition to its regular law enforcement and customs duties, revenue cutters and their crews were used to support and supplement

665-522: A Coast Guard Reserve Officer. Lawyers, engineers, intelligence officers, military aviators holding commissions in other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces requesting interservice transfers to the Coast Guard, graduates of maritime academies, and certain other individuals may also receive an officer's commission in the Coast Guard through the Direct Commission Officer (DCO) program. Depending on

798-666: A branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times. The Coast Guard shall be a service in the Department of Homeland Security, except when operating as a service in the Navy." Coast Guard organization and operation is as set forth in Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations . On 25 November 2002, the Homeland Security Act was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush, designating

931-565: A combat environment. The squadron operated divisions in three separate areas during the period of 1965 to 1970. Twenty-six Point-class cutters with their crews and a squadron support staff were assigned to the U.S. Navy with the mission of interdicting the movement of arms and supplies from the South China Sea into South Vietnam by Viet Cong and North Vietnam junk and trawler operators. The squadron also provided 81mm mortar naval gunfire support to nearby friendly units operating along

1064-616: A convoy of American merchant ships escorted by USS  Experiment fought off an attack by French-allied Haitian privateers near Hispaniola . On 1 February, Constellation severely damaged the French frigate La Vengeance off the coast of Saint Kitts . Silas Talbot led a naval expedition against Puerto Plata in early May, capturing the coastal fort and a French corvette. When French troops occupied Curaçao in July, USS  Patapsco and USS  Merrimack bombarded French positions on

1197-456: A departure from the Navy conventions, all petty officers E-6 and below wear red chevrons and all chief petty officers wear gold. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is a four-year service academy located in New London, Connecticut . Approximately 200 cadets graduate each year, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as an ensign in the Coast Guard. Graduates are obligated to serve

1330-617: A gold Coast Guard Shield in lieu of a line star or staff corps officer insignia. Highly qualified enlisted personnel in pay grades E-6 through E-9 with a minimum of eight years' experience can compete each year for appointment as warrant officers (WO). Successful candidates are chosen by a board and then commissioned as chief warrant officer two (CWO2) in one of twenty-one specialties. Over time, chief warrant officers may be promoted to chief warrant officer three (CWO3) and chief warrant officer four (CWO4). The ranks of warrant officer (WO1) and chief warrant officer five (CWO5) are not currently used in

1463-411: A lack of awareness from ship operators and seafarers. Also, navigation equipment such as ECDIS, GPS, AIS, RADAR can be compromised. In the traditional realist school of thought of international relations, maritime security is mainly regarded as a matter of sea power (also command of the sea). In peacetime, sea power is associated with countries securing the ability to conduct transport and trade via

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1596-451: A local level. The two navies shared a signal system, and allowed their merchantmen to join each other's convoys, most of which were provided by the British, who had four to five times more escorts available. This freed the U.S. Navy to concentrate on French privateers, most of which had very shallow draft and were armed with a maximum of twenty guns. Operating from French and Spanish bases in

1729-553: A major maritime terror attack. The illegal drug trade and trafficking of other prohibited items such as weapons is a key issue that affects global maritime security. In particular, Maritime drug trafficking in Latin America is the primary mean of transportation of illegal drugs produced in this region to global consumer markets, primarily in the form of cocaine from the Andean region of South America. The smuggling of drugs through

1862-461: A minimum of five years on active duty. Most graduates are assigned to duty aboard Coast Guard cutters immediately after graduation, either as Deck Watch Officers (DWOs) or as Engineer Officers in Training (EOITs). Smaller numbers are assigned directly to flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida or to shore duty at Coast Guard Sector , District, or Area headquarters units. In addition to

1995-513: A more conciliatory diplomatic stance by the new French government, had significantly reduced privateer activity. The Convention of 1800 , signed on 30 September, ended the Quasi-War. It affirmed the rights of Americans as neutrals upon the sea and abrogated the 1778 French alliance, but failed to provide compensation for the alleged $ 20 million in American economic losses. While the agreement ensured

2128-493: A practical security concern while at ports and anchorages . However, the presence of stowaways also presents complex legal issues, involving refugees, the shipping company, ship and ship's crew, as well as the flag State of the ship and the Port State . Port security is part of a broader definition concerning maritime security and refers to the defence, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within

2261-404: A restricted space, organised between Portugal and Spain . Maritime activity was exclusively reserved for the enhancement of national security through naval military. In 1609, Hugo Grotius , a Dutch philosopher and jurist, published the book mare liberum where he introduced the concept of the free sea ( mare liberum is translated to free sea in legal Latin ). In his book, Grotius laid out

2394-548: A result of the economic costs for world trade and the physical threats to seafarers, maritime security gained a significant increase of attention by the shipping industry, insurers and policy makers around the world. Piracy was also the starting point of many international relations scholars for approaching maritime security as a concept. In the wake of the Mumbai Terrorist attack in November 2008, an Indian scholar even lamented

2527-645: A separate federal agency, also within the Treasury Department, with fulltime paid crews. In 1915 these two agencies, the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service, were merged to create the modern United States Coast Guard. The Lighthouse Service and the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation were absorbed by the Coast Guard 1939 and 1942 respectively. In 1967, the Coast Guard moved from

2660-619: A service of the Department of the Navy . This arrangement has a broad historical basis, as the Coast Guard has been involved in wars as diverse as the War of 1812 , the Mexican–American War , and the American Civil War , in which the cutter Harriet Lane fired the first naval shots attempting to relieve besieged Fort Sumter . The last time the Coast Guard operated as a whole within the Navy

2793-474: A small flotilla belonging to the United States Revenue Cutter Service and a few neglected coastal forts. This allowed French privateers to roam virtually unchecked; from October 1796 to June 1797, they captured 316 ships, 6% of the entire American merchant fleet, causing losses of $ 12 to $ 15 million. On 2 March 1797, the French Directory issued a decree permitting the seizure of any neutral shipping without

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2926-494: A staff job, or an operations ashore billet. OCS is the primary channel through which the Coast Guard enlisted grades ascend to the commissioned officer corps. Unlike the other military services, the Coast Guard does not have a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program. However, the Coast Guard does have the Select Reserve Direct Commission, an officer program for prospective candidates interested serving as

3059-410: A summary table of the authorities of the Coast Guard's 192 special agents and 3,780 maritime law enforcement boarding officers. Coast Guardsmen have the legal authority to carry their service-issued firearms on and off base. This is rarely done in practice, however; at many Coast Guard stations, commanders prefer to have all service-issued weapons in armories when not in use. Still, one court has held in

3192-436: A total workforce of 87,569. The formal name for a uniformed member of the Coast Guard is "coast guardsman", irrespective of gender. "Coastie" is an informal term commonly used to refer to current or former Coast Guard personnel. In 2008, the term "guardian" was introduced as an alternative but was later dropped. Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr. stated that it was his belief that no Commandant had the authority to change what members of

3325-403: Is a form of privatised security, one of the core functions of modern states. The maritime industry has developed an ISO certification (ISO 28007:2015) for the provision of privately contracted armed security personnel on board ships. The presence of PCASPs on ships creates complex legal issues and in most cases, permission must be given from the ship's flag State before armed personnel can attend

3458-422: Is active since 1994. It now includes various zones and jurisdictions, including internal, territorial, and archipelagic waters . It further defines the exclusive sovereign waters of a state called contiguous zone , and the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in which a state has the sole exploitation rights of resources like oil and fish. The latter can be extended by the continental shelf , a natural prolongation of

3591-566: Is in particular piracy in Southeast Asia, off the coast of Somalia and in West Africa which has triggered recognition for the detrimental effects of maritime insecurities for economic development, human security as well as the environment. Maritime security is often transnational and goes beyond the maritime domain itself (see liminality ). It is characterized as being cross-jurisdictional and/or highly jurisdictional complex. Historically,

3724-424: Is interested in looking at the relations and how the concept of maritime security comes to be through actions, interactions and perceptions. Constructivists’ look at how different understandings of maritime security are informed by different political interests and normative understandings. Professor Christian Bueger has proposed three frameworks for how to deconstruct concepts of maritime security by various actors:

3857-412: Is leveraged as a force of both diplomatic soft power and humanitarian and security assistance over the more overtly confrontational nature of "gray hulled" warships. As a humanitarian service, it saves tens of thousands of lives a year at sea and in U.S. waters, and provides emergency response and disaster management for a wide range of human-made and natural catastrophic incidents in the U.S. and throughout

3990-517: Is managed and used by the Coast Guard for tracking pollution and safety incidents in the nation's ports. The National Maritime Center (NMC) is the merchant mariner credentialing authority for the USCG under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security . To ensure a safe, secure, and environmentally sound marine transportation system, the mission of the NMC is to issue credentials to fully qualified mariners in

4123-589: Is on the grounds of the former St. Elizabeths Hospital in the Anacostia section of Southeast Washington, across the Anacostia River from former Coast Guard headquarters. The fiscal year 2016 budget request for the U.S. Coast Guard was $ 9.96 billion. The Coast Guard's current district organization is divided into 9 districts. Their designations, district office and area of responsibility are as follows: Shore establishment commands exist to support and facilitate

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4256-489: Is the oldest continuously operating naval service of the United States. As secretary of the treasury, Hamilton headed the Revenue-Marine, whose original purpose was collecting customs duties at U.S. seaports. By the 1860s, the service was known as the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and the term Revenue-Marine gradually fell into disuse. The modern U.S. Coast Guard was formed by a merger of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and

4389-408: Is the regulation of the maritime domain. Some legal scholars have defined maritime security as a “ stable order of the oceans subject to the rule of law at sea ”. The liberalist’ approach emphasises that international law has been a means to transform the traditional way of countries power projection on the sea through their navies towards a cooperation in order to achieve common goals. The focus of

4522-476: The Copenhagen School , securitization looks at who is making claims (using some form of language) in the name of security to carryout measures that would otherwise not easily be justified and accepted. The framework of practice theory enables to analyse what kind of activities are actually conducted in the name of security. Practice in this theory is seen as patterns of doing and saying things that lead to

4655-640: The Department of the Treasury from its inception until 1967. A congressional authority transfer to the Navy has only happened once: in 1917, during World War I . By the time the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, the U.S. Coast Guard had already been transferred to the Navy by President Franklin Roosevelt . Created by Congress as the Revenue-Marine on 4 August 1790 at the request of Alexander Hamilton , it

4788-556: The Gulf of Guinea off West Africa is increasingly dangerous for commercial shipping, accounting for just over 90% of maritime kidnappings worldwide. However, the report noted that the number of ship hijackings in the first half of 2020 was at their lowest level since 1993. In total, IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) recorded 98 incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the first half of 2020, up from 78 in Q2 2019. Some areas of Southeast Asia, including

4921-713: The International Maritime Organization . The primary Code is the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code which entered into force in 2004. The United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) which took place in 1984 gives a framework to piracy prohibition. Since 2008, the United Nations Security Council edited some Resolutions concerning the specific Somali case like for example

5054-634: The Jay Treaty with Great Britain . Then engaged in the 1792 to 1797 War of the First Coalition , France retaliated by seizing U.S. ships trading with Great Britain. When diplomacy failed to resolve these issues, in October 1796 French privateers began attacking all merchant ships in U.S. waters, regardless of nationality. Spending cuts following the end of the American Revolutionary War left

5187-773: The Mediterranean Sea , the Horn of Africa , Southeast Asia and the Caribbean . Since the beginning of the European migrant crisis in 2015, the effects of unsafe mixed migration on maritime security have been shown by both the number of ships arriving from Africa to the European coast (demonstrating the permeability of Europe's maritime borders) but also by the visible humanitarian consequences of vessels transporting migrants sinking , leading to deaths at sea. For shipping, Stowaways remaining

5320-786: The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency in Pakistan. The first country to put the problem on their agenda were the United States in 2004 with the Maritime Security Policy. It marked the beginning of United States' Maritime Security Operations , some maritime military actions other than wars, charged to detect and prevent illicit operations. Piracy and armed robbery remains an ongoing issue in maritime security. The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy and Armed Robbery report states that attacks against ships and their crews have risen in 2019/2020. They identify that

5453-541: The Straits of Malacca and the Celebes Sea are also areas where piracy and armed robbery take place at sea, although in most cases, armed robbery is the most prevalent. The West Indian Ocean is an area with maritime security concerns for shipping and governments. Somali piracy started to increase in the early 2000s, after a civil war affected the area. Between 2008 and 2013, large numbers of attacks against merchant ships in

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5586-414: The U.S. Department of the Treasury to the newly formed U.S. Department of Transportation , an arrangement that lasted until it was placed under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2003 as part of legislation designed to more efficiently protect American interests following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 . In times of war, the Coast Guard or individual components of it can operate as

5719-502: The U.S. Life-Saving Service on 28 January 1915, under the Department of the Treasury. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was also merged into the U.S. Coast Guard. As one of the country's six armed services, the U.S. Coast Guard and its predecessor have participated in every major U.S. war since 1790, from the Quasi-War with France to the Global War on Terrorism . As of December 2021,

5852-578: The USS Cole bombing in 2000 and the September 11 attacks in 2001. Several states and international organisations have since outlined maritime security strategies. Many best practices and standards regarding physical maritime security like the ISPS Code from 2002 as a consequence of the attacks have been published by regulating authorities or the maritime industry. In the light of the perceived terrorist threat,

5985-593: The USS ; Boston captured over 80 enemy vessels, including the French corvette Berceau . With most of the French fleet confined to Europe by the Royal Navy , Secretary Stoddert was able to focus resources on eliminating the few vessels that evaded the blockade and reached the Caribbean. The U.S. also needed convoy protection, and while there was no formal agreement with the British, considerable co-operation took place at

6118-613: The United States had agreed to protect the French West Indies in return for French support in the American Revolutionary War . As the treaty had no termination date, France claimed this obligation included defending them against Great Britain and the Dutch Republic during the 1792 to 1797 War of the First Coalition . Despite popular enthusiasm for the French Revolution , especially among anti-British Jeffersonians , there

6251-557: The West Indies and captured ten prizes. Preble turned command of Pickering over to Benjamin Hillar, who captured the much larger and more heavily armed French privateer l ' Egypte Conquise after a nine-hour battle. In September 1800, the Pickering and her entire crew were lost at sea in a storm. Preble next commanded the frigate USS  Essex , which he sailed around Cape Horn into

6384-561: The port and surrounding maritime area. It includes the protection of the seaports themselves and the protection and inspection of the cargo moving through the ports. Security risks related to ports often focus on either the physical security of the port, or security risks within the maritime supply chain. Interstate dispute is a core dimension of maritime security and can be described as a hostile and conflictual relationship between two or more states. Interstate dispute arises due to strategic competition over access and capacity to “to utilise

6517-553: The 1846th in 2008 and the 1918th in 2010, in order to make member countries put piracy as a penal crime in their domestic legislation. Those resolutions were ratified, but despite ratification, few countries have applied that resolution in their domestic law. In 2011, NATO put the maritime security issue in its Alliance Maritime Strategy objectives. Despite the few countries who applied UN resolutions focused on Somalia piracy in their national legislation, many have created national agencies or bureaus specialized in maritime Security, like

6650-552: The Academy, prospective officers, who already hold a college degree, may enter the Coast Guard through Officer Candidate School (OCS), also located at the Coast Guard Academy. OCS is a 17-week course of instruction that prepares candidates to serve effectively as officers in the Coast Guard. In addition to indoctrinating students into a military lifestyle, OCS provides a wide range of highly technical information necessary to perform

6783-519: The American Revolution, it led to a rapid expansion of trade between the two countries. Between 1794 and 1801, American exports to Britain nearly tripled in value, from US$ 33 million to $ 94 million. As a result, in late 1796, French privateers began seizing American ships trading with the British. An effective response was hampered by the almost complete lack of a United States Navy , whose last warship had been sold in 1785, leaving only

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6916-413: The Caribbean ...they entered a European theater where the war had been underway since 1793...British ships chased and fought the same French cruisers and privateers. Both navies escorted each other's merchantmen. American warships operated from British bases. And most importantly, British policies and shifts in deployment had dramatic effects on American operations. From the perspective of the U.S. Navy,

7049-501: The Caribbean, particularly Guadeloupe , they made opportunistic attacks on passing ships, before escaping back into port. To counter those tactics, the U.S. used similarly-sized vessels from the Revenue Cutter Service, as well as commissioning their own privateers. The first American ship to see action was the USS  Ganges , a converted East Indiaman with 26 guns, but most were far smaller. The revenue cutter USS  Pickering , commanded by Edward Preble , made two cruises to

7182-518: The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates under the Department of Defense as a service in the Department of the Navy . As members of the military, coast guardsmen on active and reserve service are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and receive

7315-464: The Coast Guard are called as the term coast guardsman is found in Title 14 USC which established the Coast Guard in 1915. "Team Coast Guard" refers to the four components of the Coast Guard as a whole: Regular, Reserve, Auxiliary, and Coast Guard civilian employees. Commissioned officers in the Coast Guard hold pay grades ranging from O-1 to O-10 and have the same rank structure as the Navy. Officers holding

7448-632: The Coast Guard as the federal agency responsible for maritime SAR operations, and the United States Air Force as the federal agency responsible for inland SAR. Both agencies maintain rescue coordination centers to coordinate this effort, and have responsibility for both military and civilian search and rescue. The two services jointly provide instructor staff for the National Search and Rescue School that trains SAR mission planners and coordinators. Previously located on Governors Island, New York,

7581-448: The Coast Guard is frequently lauded for its quick responsiveness and adaptability in a broad range of emergencies. In a 2005 article in Time magazine following Hurricane Katrina , the author wrote, "the Coast Guard's most valuable contribution to [a military effort when catastrophe hits] may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit." Wil Milam, a rescue swimmer from Alaska told

7714-534: The Coast Guard joined with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps to adopt a new maritime strategy called A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower that raised the notion of prevention of war to the same philosophical level as the conduct of war. This new strategy charted a course for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps to work collectively with each other and international partners to prevent regional crises, man-made or natural, from occurring, or reacting quickly should one occur to avoid negative impacts to

7847-491: The Coast Guard operate under Department of the Navy operational control while other Coast Guard units remain under the Department of Homeland Security . The Deployable Operations Group (DOG) was a Coast Guard command established in July 2007. The DOG established a single command authority to rapidly provide the Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Justice and other interagency operational commanders adaptive force packages drawn from

7980-420: The Coast Guard to be placed under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security . The transfer of administrative control from the U.S. Department of Transportation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was completed the following year, on 1 March 2003. The U.S. Coast Guard reports directly to the civilian secretary of homeland security. However, under 14 U.S.C.   § 3 as amended by section 211 of

8113-595: The Coast Guard's deployable specialized force units. The DOG was disestablished on 22 April 2013 and reorganized into Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF) units were placed under the control of the Atlantic and Pacific Area Commanders. The planning for the unit began after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, and culminated with its formation on 20 July 2007. Its missions included maritime law enforcement, anti-terrorism , port security , pollution response, and diving operations . There were over 25 specialized units within

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8246-499: The Coast Guard. Chief warrant officers may also compete for the Chief Warrant Officer to Lieutenant Program. If selected, the warrant officer will be promoted to lieutenant (O-3E). The "E" designates over four years' active duty service as a warrant officer or enlisted member and entitles the member to a higher rate of pay than other lieutenants. Enlisted members of the Coast Guard have pay grades from E-1 to E-9 and also follow

8379-781: The Deployable Operations Group including the Maritime Security Response Team , Maritime Safety and Security Teams , Law Enforcement Detachments, Port Security Units , the National Strike Force , and Regional Dive Lockers. The DOG also managed Coast Guard personnel assigned to the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and was involved in the selection of Coast Guard candidates to attend Navy BUD/S and serve with Navy SEAL Teams . The new Department of Homeland Security headquarters complex

8512-812: The French First Republic by the Consulate in November 1799 led to the Convention of 1800 , which ended the war. The right of Congress to authorize military action without a formal declaration of war was later confirmed by the Supreme Court . This ruling formed the basis of many similar actions since, including U.S. participation in the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War . Under the Treaty of Alliance (1778) ,

8645-520: The French had seized over 2,000 American merchant ships by the time the war ended. It has been suggested that since the war was primarily driven by domestic political considerations, neither side was able to identify what a successful resolution entailed. This was enhanced by the tendency of individual commanders to pursue their own objectives, and on the American side, focusing on ship to ship actions rather than overall strategy. In any event, by late 1800 U.S. and British naval operations, combined with

8778-406: The Indian Ocean occurred, gaining international attention. This eventually led to the privatisation of maritime security as an increasing number of shipping companies hired private maritime security companies to protect their crews, ships and cargoes (known as 'Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel or PCASP)'. This development affects governments, navies and other security agencies because it

8911-443: The Navy in various armed conflicts including the American Civil War . A separate federal agency, the U.S. Life-Saving Service , developed alongside the Revenue-Marine. Prior to 1848, there were various charitable efforts at creating systems to provide assistance to shipwrecked mariners from shore-based stations, notably by the Massachusetts Humane Society . The federal government began funding lifesaving stations in 1848 but funding

9044-468: The Pacific to protect U.S. merchantmen in the East Indies . He recaptured several U.S. ships that had been seized by French privateers. The first significant study of the war was written by U.S. naval historian Gardner W. Allen in 1909, and focused exclusively on ship-to-ship actions. This is how the conflict is generally remembered in the U.S., but historian Michael Palmer argues American naval operations cannot be assessed in isolation. When operating in

9177-409: The Quasi-War consisted of a series of ship-to-ship actions in U.S. coastal waters and the Caribbean; one of the first was the Capture of La Croyable on 7 July 1798 by Delaware outside Egg Harbor, New Jersey . On 20 November, a pair of French frigates , Insurgente and Volontaire , captured the schooner USS  Retaliation , commanded by Lieutenant William Bainbridge ; Retaliation

9310-603: The South Vietnamese coastline and assisted the U.S. Navy during Operation Sealords . Coast Guard Squadron Three , was a combat unit formed by the United States Coast Guard in 1967 for service during the Vietnam War . Placed under the operational control of the United States Navy and based in Pearl Harbor . It consisted of five USCG High Endurance Cutters operating on revolving six-month deployments. A total of 35 High Endurance Cutters took part in operations from May 1967 to December 1971, most notably using their 5-inch guns to provide naval gunfire support missions. Often units within

9443-430: The Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, 1988 defines maritime terrorism as "Any attempt or threat to seize control of a ship by force; To damage or destroy a ship or its cargo; To injure or kill a person on board a ship; or To endanger in any way the safe navigation of a ship that moves from the territorial waters ". Some terrorist attacks against maritime targets are very rare compared to

9576-623: The Treasury Alexander Hamilton lobbied Congress to fund the construction of ten cutters , which it did on 4 August 1790 (now celebrated as the Coast Guard's official birthday). Until the re-establishment of the Navy in 1798, these "revenue cutters" were the only naval force of the early United States. As such, the cutters and their crews frequently took on additional duties, including combating piracy, rescuing mariners in distress, ferrying government officials, and even carrying mail. Initially not an organized federal agency at all, merely

9709-561: The Treaty of Alliance applied only to a "defensive conflict" and thus did not apply, since France had declared war on Britain and the Dutch Republic. To ensure the U.S. did not become involved, Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1794 , while President George Washington issued an executive order forbidding American merchant ships from arming themselves. France accepted these acts on

9842-403: The U.S. Coast Guard is the second smallest of the U.S. military service branches in terms of membership, the service by itself is the world's 12th largest naval force. The Coast Guard carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are: With a decentralized organization and much responsibility placed on even the most junior personnel,

9975-568: The U.S. Coast Guard's authorized force strength is 44,500 active duty personnel and 7,000 reservists. The service's force strength also includes 8,577 full-time civilian federal employees and 31,000 uniformed volunteers of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary . The service maintains an extensive fleet of roughly 250 coastal and ocean-going cutters , patrol ships, buoy tenders, tugs, and icebreakers; as well as nearly 2,000 small boats and specialized craft. It also maintains an aviation division consisting of more than 200 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. While

10108-420: The U.S. Navy , as well as officers from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are assigned to the Coast Guard to perform chaplain-related functions and medical-related functions, respectively. These officers wear Coast Guard uniforms but replace the Coast Guard insignia with that of their own service. The Navy and Coast Guard share identical officer rank insignia except that Coast Guard officers wear

10241-422: The U.S. to conduct undeclared wars , or " police actions ". Since ships of the line were expensive to build and required highly specialised construction facilities, in 1794 Congress compromised by ordering six large frigates . By 1798, the first three were nearly complete and on 16 July 1798, additional funding was approved for the USS  Congress , USS  Chesapeake , and USS  President , plus

10374-493: The U.S. unable to mount an effective response, and within a year over 316 American ships had been captured. In March 1798, Congress reconstituted the United States Navy , and in July authorized the use of force against France. By 1799, losses had been significantly reduced through informal cooperation with the Royal Navy , whereby merchant ships from both nations were allowed to join each other's convoys. The replacement of

10507-519: The United States maritime jurisdiction. The six uniformed services that make up the U.S. Armed Forces are defined in Title 10 of the U.S. Code : "The term "armed forces" means the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard." The Coast Guard is further defined by Title 14 of the United States Code : "The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and

10640-510: The United States. During the launch of the new U.S. maritime strategy at the International Seapower Symposium at the U.S. Naval War College in 2007, Coast Guard commandant admiral Thad Allen said the new maritime strategy reinforced the time-honored missions the service has carried out in the United States since 1790. "It reinforces the Coast Guard maritime strategy of safety, security and stewardship, and it reflects not only

10773-445: The authority to: (1) carry a firearm; (2) execute and serve any order, warrant, subpoena, summons, or other process issued under the authority of the United States; (3) make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the officer's presence or for a felony, cognizable under the laws of the United States committed outside the officer's presence if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that

10906-425: The basis of "benevolent neutrality". They interpreted this as allowing French privateers to enter U.S. ports, and to sell captured British ships in American prize courts , but not vice versa. However, the U.S. viewed it as the right to provide the same privileges to both. These differences were further exacerbated in November 1794 when the U.S. and Britain signed the Jay Treaty . By resolving outstanding issues from

11039-469: The case of People v. Booth that Coast Guard boarding officers are qualified law enforcement officers authorized to carry personal firearms off-duty for self-defense. The Coast Guard traced its roots to the small fleet of vessels maintained by the United States Department of the Treasury beginning in the 1790s to enforce tariffs (an important source of revenue for the new nation). Secretary of

11172-698: The communications and operations center for the National Response Team, the NRC maintains agreements with a variety of federal entities to make additional notifications regarding incidents meeting established trigger criteria. The NRC also takes Maritime Suspicious Activity and Security Breach Reports. Details on the NRC organization and specific responsibilities can be found in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. The Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) database system

11305-409: The duties of a Coast Guard officer. Graduates of OCS are usually commissioned as ensigns, but some with advanced graduate degrees may enter as lieutenants (junior grade) or lieutenants . Graduating OCS officers entering active duty are required to serve a minimum of three years, while graduating reserve officers are required to serve four years. Graduates may be assigned to a cutter, flight training,

11438-464: The early 2000s, when in particular concerns over terrorist attacks on port facilities sparked interest in security in the maritime domain and led to the creation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code . The ISPS Code is enforced through Chapter XI-2 of the SOLAS Convention . Most littoral states and international organisations have also outlined maritime security strategies. It

11571-409: The first Secretary of the Navy . On 7 July 1798, Congress approved the use of force against French warships in American waters, but wanted to ensure conflict did not escalate beyond these limits. As a result, it was called a "limited" or "Quasi-War", and led to political debate over whether it was constitutional. A series of rulings by the Supreme Court of the United States confirmed the ability of

11704-636: The foundation of the freedom of navigation at sea. The sea was seen as international territory, where every nation was free to conduct trade. Grotius’ concept of the free sea was superseded by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) . This international agreement first came into effect in 1958 as the Convention on the High Seas ( UNCLOS I ). The most recent agreement is UNCLOS III , which

11837-435: The freedom of navigation, the flow of commerce and the protection of ocean resources, as well as securing the maritime domain from nation-state threats, terrorism, drug trafficking and other forms of transnational crime , piracy, environmental destruction and illegal seaborne immigration ” as the goal of maritime security. Central to the liberal school of thought approach in international relations to maritime security

11970-565: The frigates USS  General Greene and USS  Adams . The provision of naval stores and equipment by the British allowed these to be built relatively quickly, and all saw action during the war. These vessels were enhanced by so-called "subscription ships", privately funded vessels provided by individual cities. They included five frigates, among them the USS  Philadelphia , commanded by Stephen Decatur , and four merchantmen converted into sloops . Primarily intended to attack foreign shipping, they earned huge profits for their owners;

12103-453: The general concept of ‘maritime security’: A matrix may have each concept in a corner of a square, maritime security being situated in the centre. Depending on what is being analysed, concepts like human trafficking can then be situated e.g. between ‘maritime security’, ‘human security’, and ‘economic development’. Securitization is a framework of international relations originally developed by Ole Wæver and Barry Buzan . Sometimes called

12236-474: The global reach of our maritime services but the need to integrate and synchronize and act with our coalition and international partners to not only win wars ... but to prevent wars," Allen said. Title 14 USC, section 2 authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce U.S. federal laws. This authority is further defined in 14 U.S.C.   § 522 , which gives law enforcement powers to all Coast Guard commissioned officers, warrant officers, and petty officers. Unlike

12369-420: The implementation of maritime security measures. According to Bueger five practices fit within the conventional spectrum of maritime security: These activities can be seen through two different perspective. The focus can either be laid on what activities belong to the everyday routine of maritime security actors or on the measures that are done in exceptional circumstances. Quasi-War The Quasi-War

12502-538: The increased technology and connectivity on modern ships in the 21st century, cyber security has become a maritime security concern. Cyber Security has come under increased focus in the maritime industry since the IMO required cyber security to be addressed under the International Safety Management Code of ships from 1 January 2021. There are significant cyber security gaps on ships. These are due to

12635-527: The island and landed marines to support the local Dutch troops before the French withdrew. On 12 October, the frigate Boston captured the corvette Le Berceau . On 25 October, USS  Enterprise defeated the French brig Flambeau near Dominica . Enterprise also captured eight privateers and freed eleven U.S. merchant ships from captivity, while Experiment captured the French privateers Deux Amis and Diane and liberated numerous American merchant ships. Although U.S. military losses were light,

12768-623: The liberal paradigm has been criticised as being mainly limited to technicalities and formalities of international law, but not helping understanding the governance aspects of maritime security that go beyond legal and normative regulation. However, it has also been pointed out that the liberalist approach is a much better reflection of reality than the highly theoretical constructivist approach, explained in detail below. Dirk Siebels, an expert on maritime security, has explained that regional agreements between governments are generally needed to define maritime security – or good order at sea – for

12901-473: The magazine, "In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war. In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself." The eleven statutory missions as defined by law are divided into homeland security missions and non-homeland security missions: The U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue (CG-SAR) is one of the Coast Guard's best-known operations. The National Search and Rescue Plan designates

13034-454: The maritime and cyber domains, the U.S. Coast Guard is at any given time deployed to and operating on all seven continents and in cyberspace to enforce its mission. Like its United States Navy sibling, the U.S. Coast Guard maintains a global presence with permanently-assigned personnel throughout the world and forces routinely deploying to both littoral and blue-water regions. The U.S. Coast Guard's adaptive, multi-mission "white hull" fleet

13167-515: The maritime domain. A present case of interstate rivalry is between the US, India and China in the Western Indian Ocean . The US used to be the dominant naval force in the region, yet this is changing and today the three states are competing over economic influence, extractive resources and military strength in the region. Where the US used to be the dominant security provider of crucial SLOCs in

13300-481: The maritime security matrix that helps conceptualise relations, the securitization framework that looks at claims that are being made in relation to maritime security, and practice theory to analyse what is actually being done in the name of maritime security. The maritime security matrix looks at the semantic relations between maritime security and other maritime concepts (see also semiotics ) using four dimensions to relate and situate maritime security topics in and to

13433-542: The mission of the sea and air assets and Coastal Defense . U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters is located in Southeast Washington, D.C. Examples of other shore establishment types are Coast Guard Sectors (which may include Coast Guard Bases), Surface Forces Logistics Center (SFLC), Coast Guard Stations , Coast Guard Air Stations , and the United States Coast Guard Yard . Training centers are included in

13566-553: The opportunity to transport high volumes of drugs from producing to consuming countries. The volume of illegal drugs being moved in commercial shipping continues to increase and therefore the risk to ships and ports continues to increase, with ships’ crews often unaware that their ship or its cargo are being used as a cover to transport illegal drugs. However, if illegal drugs are found on board by local customs or law enforcement agencies, innocent companies and seafarers may potentially be exposed to huge financial fines or penalties, or even

13699-847: The other branches of the United States Armed Forces , which are prevented from acting in a law enforcement capacity by 18 U.S.C.   § 1385 , the Posse Comitatus Act , and Department of Defense policy, the Coast Guard is exempt from and not subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act. Further law enforcement authority is given by 14 U.S.C.   § 703 and 19 U.S.C.   § 1401 , which empower U.S. Coast Guard active and reserve commissioned officers, warrant officers, and petty officers as federal customs officers . This places them under 19 U.S.C.   § 1589a , which grants customs officers general federal law enforcement authority, including

13832-645: The person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony; and (4) perform any other law enforcement duty that the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate. The U.S. Government Accountability Office Report to the House of Representatives , Committee on the Judiciary on its 2006 Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities, identified the Coast Guard as one of 104 federal components that employed law enforcement officers . The report also included

13965-499: The rank of ensign (O-1) through lieutenant commander (O-4) are considered junior officers, commanders (O-5) and captains (O-6) are considered senior officers, and rear admirals (O-7) through admirals (O-10) are considered flag officers. The commandant of the Coast Guard and the vice commandant of the Coast Guard are the only members of the Coast Guard authorized to hold the rank of admiral. The Coast Guard does not have medical officers or chaplains of its own. Instead, chaplains from

14098-411: The region India and China are both vying for similar positions today. The increased tensions between have led to increased naval presence and an increasing number of military exercises, which risks intensifying military competition in the region and thus decreasing maritime security in the Western Indian Ocean. Armed conflict is an area of maritime security, both in the risks for shipping and users of

14231-470: The respective region. Governments in West Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe or other regions may have different priorities, “ yet it is their order, defined in negotiations and in line with international law ”. Constructivism is based on the notion, that security is a socially constructed concept. Rather than accepting maritime security as a given list of threats and means, the constructivist school of thought

14364-457: The risk of imprisonment. Issues such as war, political instability, famine and poverty have resulted in many thousands of people travelling by sea to find better conditions of living. This migration poses several potential security concerns for coastal States, including the safety and legal issues arising from Illegal immigration but also the related criminal aspects of exploitation and human trafficking . Geographic areas principally include

14497-792: The same pay and allowances as members of the same pay grades in the other uniformed services. The service has participated in every major U.S. conflict from 1790 through today, including landing troops on D-Day and on the Pacific Islands in World War II , in extensive patrols and shore bombardment during the Vietnam War , and multiple roles in Operation Iraqi Freedom . Maritime interception operations, coastal security, transportation security, and law enforcement detachments have been its major roles in recent conflicts in Iraq . On 17 October 2007,

14630-529: The same rank structure as the Navy. Enlisted members in pay grades of E-4 and higher are considered petty officers and follow career development paths very similar to those of Navy petty officers. Petty officers in pay grade E-7 and higher are chief petty officers and must attend the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy , or an equivalent Department of Defense school, in order to be advanced to pay grade E-8. The basic themes of

14763-440: The school are: Enlisted rank insignia is also nearly identical to Navy enlisted insignia. The Coast Guard shield replacing the petty officer's eagle on collar and cap devices for petty officers or enlisted rating insignia for seamen qualified as a "designated striker" . Group Rate marks (stripes) for junior enlisted members (E-3 and below) also follow Navy convention with white for seaman, red for fireman, and green for airman. In

14896-570: The school is now located at Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown at Yorktown, Virginia. Operated by the Coast Guard, the National Response Center (NRC) is the sole U.S. Government point of contact for reporting all oil , chemical , radiological , biological , and etiological spills and discharges into the environment, anywhere in the United States and its territories. In addition to gathering and distributing spill/incident information for Federal On Scene Coordinators and serving as

15029-463: The scope of the maritime security concept began to broaden from the narrow focus on interstate military confrontation to include other issues. (See also critical security studies ) It is in particular the surge of piracy during the early 2000s in Southeast Asia , off the coast of Somalia and in West Africa which has triggered recognition for the detrimental effects of maritime insecurities. As

15162-453: The sea and ‘soft’ maritime security being used for threats concerning “ ocean resources, transportation and trade, and exchange of information ”. A number of constructivist’ scholars have criticised this approach to maritime security where defining what a maritime security issue actually is, often becomes a collection of topics associated with threats in the maritime domain. The US Naval Operations Concept from 2006 for example listed “ ensuring

15295-574: The sea has been subject to different concepts of law and power. The term mare nostrum ( our sea in Latin) was coined by the Romans in 30 BC to 117 AD as a term to describe its control of the Mediterranean Sea. From this concept of the sealing of a sea, the legal concept of mare clausum ( closed sea in legal Latin ) was developed during the age of discovery between the 15th and 17th century. The sea became

15428-649: The sea is a security problem for all the countries of the Latin American region. Drug trafficking organizations have developed various complex systems for the transportation and distribution of illegal drugs, where several countries in the region serve as points of contact for the distribution of illegal products, with an estimated 90% of the cocaine produced in the Andean region transported at some point by sea. Smuggling also includes legally allowed items brought in without declaration to avoid customs charges, such as tobacco. This poses issues for maritime security, as often

15561-531: The sea, but also in the wider context of maritime conflict and Naval warfare . War like risks are of increasing concern for maritime users and governments in areas such as the Persian Gulf . Strait of Hormuz and Southern Red Sea Region where conflicts such as the Yemen Conflict and international events such as the ongoing 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis continue to poses maritime security concerns. Owing to

15694-551: The sea. In wartime, sea power describes the agency of navies to attack other navies or other countries sea transportation means. One more recent definitions in realist’ thinking sees maritime security as “ The protection of a state’s land and maritime territory, infrastructure, economy, environment and society from certain harmful acts occurring at sea ”. Some scholars then argue that maritime security can be classified into two different types, ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ security. ‘Hard’ maritime security signifying sea power and domination of

15827-508: The seas for commercial and military purposes, or to prevent others from doing so”. Interstate disputes vary in nature, scope and severity, yet interstate dispute is always politically motivated and concerns the interests of states’. The concept can be divided into three main categories of disputes; 1) Functional disputes over physical properties and resources at sea, 2) Institutional disputes over territorial boundaries and 3) symbolic disputes over cultural and political values that states attach to

15960-780: The serious lack of maritime vision in his government's policies to preserve India's expanding interests, thereby coining the catch-phrase "sea-blindness". One effect of piracy has been the development of regional cooperation initiatives. In Southeast Asia for example, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCaap) has been initiated in 2004 and includes now an Information Sharing Centre (ISC) . Besides maritime domain awareness (MDA) more topics began to become subject of these cooperation initiatives. The International Maritime Organization Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC), adopted in 2009,

16093-775: The shore establishment commands. The military college for the USCG is called the United States Coast Guard Academy which trains both new officers through a four year program and enlisted personnel joining the ranks of officers through a 17 week program called Officer Candidate School (OCS). Abbreviated TRACEN, the other Training Centers include Training Center Cape May for enlisted bootcamp, Training Center Petaluma and Training Center Yorktown for enlisted "A" schools and "C" schools, and Coast Guard Aviation Technical Training Center and Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile for aviation enlisted "A" school, "C" schools, and pilot officer training. The Coast Guard has

16226-456: The smuggling of such items is connected to organised crime. The smuggling of drugs through the sea is a security problem for all the countries of the Latin American region. While traffickers sometimes make use of narco submarines to transport drugs, the primary method of transfer is utilising existing commercial shipping, either hidden on board or placed within legitimate cargoes such as containers. Large ships present organised criminals with

16359-451: The specific program and the background of the individual, the course is three, four or five weeks long. The first week of the five-week course is an indoctrination week. The DCO program is designed to commission officers with highly specialized professional training or certain kinds of previous military experience. Maritime security While a concern throughout history for nation states, maritime security has evolved significantly since

16492-425: The territory of the respective state. Maritime security has until then been mostly concerned with interstate naval conflicts and piracy at sea. As a concept and agenda maritime security has evolved since the late 1990s and early 2000s. In particular concerns over terrorist attacks on port facilities sparked new security interests in the maritime domain. Notable events influencing the maritime security paradigm are

16625-530: The total number of attacks noted by the global terrorism database, however notable cases are famous like the hijacking of the ship Santa Maria in 1961 and the USS Cole bombing in 2000. The September 11 attacks resulted in the global community agreeing on the wider need to improve security in the maritime domain and this led to the creation of the ISPS Code . Since the introduction of the ISPS Code there has not been

16758-676: The vessel and this usually involves confirming Rules for the Use of Force (RUF). Maritime terrorism is also an issue for maritime security and the definition has been clarified by Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific as to be "the undertaking of terrorist acts and activities within the maritime environment, using or against vessels or fixed platforms at sea or in port, or against any one of their passengers or personnel, against coastal facilities or settlements, including tourist resorts, port areas and port towns or cities." The Convention for

16891-420: The world. The U.S. Coast Guard operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during peacetime. During times of war, it can be transferred in whole or in part to the U.S. Department of the Navy under the Department of Defense by order of the U.S. president or by act of Congress . Prior to its transfer to Homeland Security, it operated under the Department of Transportation from 1967 to 2003 and

17024-513: Was an undeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and French First Republic . It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States , with minor actions in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea . In 1793, Congress unilaterally suspended repayment of French loans from the American Revolutionary War , and in 1794 signed

17157-637: Was in World War II , in all some 250,000 served in the Coast Guard during World War II. Coast Guard Squadron One , was a combat unit formed by the United States Coast Guard in 1965 for service during the Vietnam War . Placed under the operational control of the United States Navy, it was assigned duties in Operation Market Time . Its formation marked the first time since World War II that Coast Guard personnel were used extensively in

17290-406: Was inconsistent and the system still relied on all-volunteer crews. In 1871, Sumner Increase Kimball was appointed chief of the Treasury Department's newly created Revenue Marine Division, and began the process of organizing the Revenue-Marine cutters into a centralized agency. Kimball also pushed for more funding lifesaving stations and eventually secured approval to create the Lifesaving Service as

17423-685: Was little support for this in Congress . Neutrality allowed New England shipowners to earn huge profits evading the British blockade, while Southern plantation owners feared the example set by France's abolition of slavery in 1794. In 1793, Congress suspended repayment of French loans incurred during the Revolutionary War, arguing the execution of Louis XVI and establishment of the French First Republic rendered existing agreements void. They further argued American military obligations under

17556-492: Was originally an agreement on cooperation between East African and Southwest Asian states to counter piracy. Since its revision and the complementary Jeddah Amendment to the DCoC of 2017, it now also includes other illicit maritime activities than piracy like human trafficking or illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) . Maritime security is facilitated at sea and in ports by several international regulations and codes from

17689-525: Was recaptured on 28 June 1799. On 9 February 1799, the frigate Constellation captured the French Navy's frigate L'Insurgente . By 1 July, under the command of Decatur, USS  United States had been refitted and repaired and embarked on her mission to patrol the South Atlantic coast and West Indies in search of French ships which were preying on American merchant vessels. On 1 January 1800 ,

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