Global InformationUnited States Coast Guard information
| United States Coast Guard | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the United States Coast Guard  U.S. Coast Guard service mark | |
| Founded | 28 January 1915 (109 years, 2 months) (As current service) 4 August 1790 |
| Country |  United States |
| Type | Coast guard |
| Role | Port and waterway security Drug interdiction Aids to navigation Search and rescue Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Marine safety Defense readiness Migrant interdiction Marine environmental protection Ice operations Law enforcement |
| Size | 40,558 active duty personnel 7,724 reserve personnel 21,000 auxiliarists[2] 8,577 civilian personnel (as of 2020)[3] |
| Part of | United States Armed Forces Department of Homeland Security |
| Headquarters | Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Nickname(s) |
|
| Motto(s) |
|
| Colors | CG Red, CG Blue, White[6] |
| March | "Semper Paratus" ⓘ |
| Anniversaries | 4 August |
| Equipment | List of U.S. Coast Guard equipment |
| Engagements | See list
|
| Website |
|
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief |  President Joe Biden |
| Secretary of Homeland Security |  Alejandro Mayorkas |
| Commandant |  ADM Linda L. Fagan |
| Vice Commandant |  ADM Steven D. Poulin |
| Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard | MCPOCG Heath B. Jones |
| Insignia | |
| Ensign |  |
| Service Mark |  |
| Flag |  |
| Jack |  |
| Wordmark |  |
| United States Armed Forces |
|---|
 |
| Executive departments |
|
| Staff |
|
| Military departments |
|
| Military services |
|
| Command structure |
|
|
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces[7] 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 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 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 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 the world.[8]
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 the Department of the Treasury from its inception until 1967.[9][10] A congressional authority transfer to the Navy has only happened once: in 1917, during World War I.[11] 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.[12]
Created by Congress as the Revenue-Marine on 4 August 1790 at the request of Alexander Hamilton, it is the oldest continuously operating naval service of the United States.[Note 1] 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.[13]
The modern U.S. Coast Guard was formed by a merger of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and 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 has deployed to support and fight every major U.S. war since 1790, from the Quasi-War with France to the Global War on Terrorism.[14][15]
As of December 2021, the U.S. Coast Guard's authorized force strength is 44,500 active duty personnel[16] and 7,000 reservists.[Note 2] 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.[17] 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.[18] While 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.[19][20]
- ^ "Coast Guard History: Frequently Asked Questions – When was the Coast Guard (and its forerunners) established and what is its organizational history?". Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
- ^ Fagan, Linda. "The Commandant of the United States Coast Guard – Auxiliary Policy Statement" (PDF). The Commandant of the United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
- ^ "2020 Demographics: Profile of the Military Community" (PDF). Department of Defense. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ^ a b William R. Benedetto (February 2006). Sailing Into the Abyss: A True Story of Extreme Heroism on the High Seas. Kensington Publishing Corporation. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-8065-2646-1. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
Its sailors go by a handful of names including coasties, shallow-water sailors, hooligans, rum-runners, the Guard, and, now, the Home Security guys.
- ^ "'Semper Paratus' (Always Ready)". Coast Guard History – FAQ's. U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ "CHAPTER 2. UNITED STATES COAST GUARD EMBLEM" (PDF). United States Coast Guard. April 2011. p. 2. COMDTINST M5200.14A. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ 14 U.S.C. § 102
- ^ "U.S. Coast Guard Strategic Plan 2018-2022" (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
- ^ "2003 – Coast Guard Transferred to the Department of Homeland Security". cgaviationhistory.org. Coast Guard Aviation Association. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ "1967 – United States Coast Guard Transferred to the Department of Transportation". cgaviationhistory.org. Coast Guard Aviation Association. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
- ^ Johnson, Robert Irwin (1987). Guardians of the Sea, History of the United States Coast Guard, 1915 to the Present. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-87021-720-3.
- ^ Scheina, Robert (11 October 2012). "The U.S. Coast Guard at War". Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
- ^ LaRouche, Monique (2012). "The Coast Guard RAIDs Afghanistan". Reservist. LXI (1). U.S. Coast Guard: 18. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
- ^ "[USC02] 14 USC 4904: Authorized levels of military strength and training". uscode.house.gov. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
- ^ "United States Coast Guard > Our Organization > Workforce". US Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ "Operational_Assets". US Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ "Happy 225th Birthday to the United States Coast Guard! « Coast Guard Auxiliary Live". live.cgaux.org. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
- ^ "Coast Guard Organization and Administration, Chapter One". Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).