The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States
armed forces and one of seven uniformed services. In addition
to being a military branch at all times, it is unique among
the armed forces in that it is also a maritime law enforcement
agency (with jurisdiction both domestically and in international
waters) and a federal regulatory agency. It is an agency of
the United States Department of Homeland Security.
As one of the five armed forces and the smallest armed service
of the United States, its stated mission is to protect the public,
the environment, and the United States economic and security
interests in any maritime region in which those interests may
be at risk, including international waters and America's coasts,
ports, and inland waterways.
The Coast Guard has many statutory missions, which are listed
below in this article.
Authority as an armed service
The five uniformed services that make up the Armed Forces are
defined in 10 U.S.C. § 101(a)(4):
“ The term "armed forces" means the Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. ”
The Coast Guard is further defined by 14 U.S.C. § 1:
“ The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be
a military service and 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 February 25, 2003, the Coast Guard was placed under the Department
of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard reports directly to the
Secretary of Homeland Security. However, under 14 U.S.C. § 3
as amended by section 211 of 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. 14 U.S.C. § 2 authorizes the
Coast Guard to enforce federal law. Further, the Coast Guard
is exempt from and not subject to the restrictions of the Posse
Comitatus Act which restrict the law enforcement activities
of the other four military services within United States territory.
On October 17, 2007, 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.[6] 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, manmade or natural, from occurring or reacting quickly
should one occur to avoid negative impacts to the United States.
During the launch of the new U.S. maritime strategy at the International
Sea power Symposium at the U.S. Naval War College, 2007, Coast
Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen said the new maritime strategy
reinforced the time-honored missions the service carried out
in this U.S. since 1790. "It reinforces the Coast Guard
maritime strategy of safety, security and stewardship, and it
reflects not only 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.
History
The roots of the Coast Guard lie in the United States Revenue
Cutter Service established by Alexander Hamilton under the Department
of the Treasury on August 4, 1790. The first USCG station was
in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Until the re-establishment of
the United States Navy in 1798, the Revenue Cutter Service was
the only naval force of the early U.S. It was established to
collect taxes from a brand new nation of patriot smugglers.
When the officers were out at sea, they were told to crack down
on piracy; while they were at it, they might as well rescue
anyone in distress.
"First Fleet" is a term occasionally used as an informal
reference to the US Coast Guard, although as far as one can
detect the United States has never in fact officially used this
designation with reference either to the Coast Guard or any
element of the US Navy. The informal appellation honors the
fact that between 1790 and 1798, there was no United States
Navy and the cutters which were the predecessor of the US Coast
Guard were the only warships protecting the coast, trade, and
maritime interests of the new republic.
The modern Coast Guard can be said to date to 1915, when the
Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Life-Saving
Service and Congress formalized the existence of the new organization.
In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was brought under its purview.
In 1942, the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation was
transferred to the Coast Guard. In 1967, the Coast Guard moved
from the Department of the Treasury to the newly formed Department
of Transportation, an arrangement that lasted until it was placed
under the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 as part of
legislation designed to more efficiently protect American interests
following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
In times of war, the Coast Guard or individual components of
it can operate as a service of the Department of the Navy. This
arrangement has a broad historical basis, as the 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
under the Navy was in World War II. More often, military and
combat units within the Coast Guard will operate under Navy
operational control while other Coast Guard units will remain
under the Department of Homeland Security.
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