The United States Coast Guard Doing More With Less in Upcoming Budget

I was among a group of reporters allowed to interview Admiral Thad W. Allen, Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, on February 16, 2010. Admiral Allen discussed the current state of the Coast Guard, the proposed 2011-2012 Coast Guard budget and the effects that this proposal will have on the Coast Guard.

The budget for 2011 focuses on some very necessary work. The Coast Guard fleet is aging, and many ships are near or have reached their operational life. Also included are funds for refurbishing family quarters allocated to Coast Guard dependents. These properties currently average 40 years old or more and are badly in need of work.

The Admiral talked about the current tasking for the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Web site describes the traditional Coast Guard missions as: Maritime Safety, Maritime Security, Maritime Mobility, National Defense and Protection of Natural Resources.

Allen talked about the rapid response that the CG had after the Haitian earthquake. CGC Forward was the first of many Coast Guard vessels to respond and was off Port-au-Prince less than 12 hours after the quake.

Admiral Allen also talked about the requests from other military services for Coast Guard participation in various operations. He named Africa Partnership Station as an example. He told us that the Coast Guard has a cutter deployed to these requests somewhere between one third and one half of the time, and the Navy would like even more CG participation. The question, according to the Admiral, is whether the CG has the force structure to supply and support those demands.

While reading the budget for 2011, one can see that it buys some new ships and aircraft, which will replace those that have reached the end of their useful lives. It would also fund design of a new class of ship that is needed to replace existing medium endurance cutters.

The budget is lower than the 2010 budget. Basing requirements have been changed, and aircraft and ships moved to allow some base closures. The budget also has a reduction in 773 FTE positions. Admiral Allen reported that this gives his staff a management challenge since both recruitment and retention are at all time highs.

Admiral Allen was asked about the status of the Coast Guard's icebreaker fleet. Congress has provided funding to refit the Polar Star, which should be finished in 12 to 18 months. The Admiral was not able to tell us how they would crew that vessel.

In the Great Lakes and harbors, the concern is for the 140 ft. ice breaking tugs. The Admiral told us that they are seeing some reliability problems as these ships reach the end of their operational life.

Admiral Allen summed up the Coast Guard's operations as "it's really a matter of portfolio management and resource allocation. And again, that gets back to our operational model. I think the reason we're so valuable to the country is we have a set of resources, and whether I've got more or fewer than I had last year, the operational genius of the Coast Guard is how we allocate them.

That said, if you give me more resources, I could do more for the country, and I'll still do that the same way, balancing risk, but I can cover more areas for the country if I have more resources. And of course everybody always needs more."