Will US Coast Guard go the way of the Canadian Coast Guard? And what will this mean at our contentious Quoddy border?
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Heavy Weather Ahead for the Coast Guard
By Captain Jim Howe, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired) and Lieutenant Jim Dolbow, U.S. Coast Guard Reserve
Competing priorities and shrinking budgets threaten to swamp the service.
The U.S. Coast Guard faces a stark and troubled future. If our nation's fifth and smallest military service was a cutter it would be listing severely, crippled by decades of undercapitalization, a lack of political support, an overwhelming workload, and the five words most feared by any Guardian: "the curse of can-do." In the face of an impending budget meltdown, the Coast Guard must confront severe challenges that threaten its performance and long-term viability, as it comports with the realities of the post-9/11 environment. Will it remain the world's best Coast Guard or will it proceed down the path of Britain's Royal Navy, becoming a shadow of its former self?
Just A Mirage
When viewed through the lens of the pre-9/11 era, the Coast Guard appears strong. It has grown to its largest size since World War II, embarked on a sweeping recapitalization of its cutters and aircraft, landed a central role in a newly created department, and undertaken a massive realignment of its command-and-control architecture. By any measure the Coast Guard is a far more robust, capable, technologically advanced, and nimble service than it was at the end of the 1990s.
But this appearance of strength is nothing more than a mirage.
See the entire article here: http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/story.asp?STORY_ID=1979
Thanks Vivian!
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