Manning the Helm: The Coast Guard's New Leadership Team Should Launch a Critical Self-Study, Which Will Help the Service Navigate Challenging Political Currents

Abstract

The US Coast Guard’s value to the nation is its versatile, highly adaptive, multimission character. The defining attribute of the service is its readiness. For the Coast Guard, its semper paratus motto is no mere Baron Münchhausen brag. Like the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard prides itself on being most ready when others are least ready. As technology compresses geography and reaction times, maritime-domain awareness backed by effective border control will be increasingly important to the nation’s security. Coast Guard leadership must resist being forced by budget constraints to retreat into the pre-9/11 “boat-in-the-barn” approach to maritime security and safety.

Keywords: Coast Guard, strategy, maritime

JEL Classification: H56, L91