Did
you know that the US Coast Guard is this country’s oldest continuous seagoing
service, beating out the US Navy by 8 years?
Or that the Coast Guard has had major roles in all US armed
conflicts including recent Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom?
It
was George Washington that signed a Tariff Act on August 4th, 1790
that authorized ten vessels (known as “cutters”) to enforce federal tariff and
trade laws and to prevent smuggling.
These vessels were known as “revenue cutters”, the “system of cutters”
and the Revenue Cutter Service as the Nation grew.
 |
| USRC Bear - a steam barkentine built in 1847 |
The
US Coast Guard received it’s current name via an act of Congress in 1915 that
merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the US Life-Saving Service. Later transfers into the Coast Guard
included the Lighthouse Service (1939) and the Commerce Dept’s Bureau of Marine
Inspection and Navigation (1946).
The
Coast Guard is now one of five branches of the US Armed Forces under the
auspices of the US Dept. of Homeland Security.
Its responsibilities include Search and Rescue, Maritime Law
Enforcement, Aids to Navigation, Ice Breaking, Environmental Protection, Port
Security and Military Readiness.
To
accomplish its various missions, the Coast Guard has 38,000 active-duty men and
women and provides the nation with a single maritime service dedicated to
saving life at sea and enforcing the nation’s maritime laws. It is both a military force and federal law
enforcement agency, unique in the Nation and the World. In times of war, or at the direction of the
President, it serves as part of the Navy Dept.
 |
| CGC Bertholf - photo credit: CWO Brian Carlton, USCG | |
So,
what role would the Coast Guard play in recent Middle East Conflicts? Check out these type of activities that occurred during Operation Iraqi Freedom:
2003
- CGC Boutwell departed Alameda,
CA in preparation for supporting
Operation Iraqi Freedom. The cutter began operations in the Arabian Gulf on 14 February 2003. Prior to the
start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, her crew conducted maritime interception boardings
to enforce U.N. sanctions against Iraq. At the outbreak of
hostilities and throughout the conflict, she operated in strategically critical
waterways, providing force protection to the massive coalition fleet, securing
Iraqi oil terminals, and preventing the movement of weapons, personnel or
equipment by Saddam Hussein's regime or other guerilla or terrorist
forces.
2003
- On 18 January CGC Walnut departed from her homeport in Honolulu, Hawaii and
began her 10,000 mile transit to the Persian Gulf
in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The cutter deployed with an
oil spill recovery system in the event the regime of Saddam Hussein committed
any acts of environmental terrorism. When those threats did not
materialize, the cutter then conducted maritime interception operations
enforcing U.N. Security Council resolutions, participated in the search for two
downed United Kingdom
helicopters, and patrolled and provided assistance to captured Iraqi offshore
oil terminals being secured by Coast Guard port security personnel.
The cutter’s crew completely replaced 30 buoys and repaired an additional five
along a 41-mile waterway. Their mission vastly improved the navigational
safety of the waterway for humanitarian aid, commercial, and military vessels
sailing to the port and was a critical step to economic recovery for the people
of Iraq.
2003
- Three Iraqi sailors were captured in the northern Persian
Gulf, the first Enemy Prisoners of War taken by Coast Guard forces
deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 24-member crew of CGC
Adak plucked the Iraqi sailors from the
sea after they had jumped overboard when their patrol boat was destroyed by
coalition forces. The POWs were taken aboard the Adak
and later transferred to an undisclosed location.
2003
- During Operation Iraqi Freedom CGC Wrangell escorted the first
waterborne humanitarian aid shipment into the port of Umm Qasr without
incident, while members of Coast Guard Port Security Unit 311 assisted other
coalition forces protecting the harbor. The shipment, consisting of vital
aid donated by numerous countries, was carried aboard the British ship RFA
Sir Galahad.
2004
- Damage Controlman Third Class Nathan Bruckenthal, USCG, from Smithtown,
New York, and two US Navy sailors were killed
in the line of duty while conducting maritime intercept operations in the North Arabian Gulf. He and six other coalition
sailors attempted to board a small boat near an Iraqi oil terminal. As
they boarded the boat it exploded. Bruckenthal died later from injuries
sustained in the explosion. He was the first Coast Guardsman killed in
action since the Vietnam War. This was his second deployment to the Arabian Gulf for Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was posthumously awarded the Purple
Heart. His shipmate, BM3 Joseph Ruggiero, was also awarded a Purple Heart
for injuries sustained in action against the enemy while defending the oil terminal.
They were the first Coast Guard
recipients of the Purple Heart since the Vietnam War.
We
salute the men and women of the US Coast Guard
and thank them for serving the United State
of America!
