A Short History of the Military: Coast Guard

The US Coast Guard has served the country throughout its history, tracing its origin to “4 August 1790, when the first Congress authorized the construction of ten vessels to enforce tariff and trade laws and to prevent smuggling.” Consequently, with its current complement of 44,500 active-duty personnel, the Coast Guard is the longest “continuously operating naval service.”

The Navy and Coast Guard Have Different Missions

Though sometimes overlapping, the basic missions of the Coast Guard and the US Navy, as well as the day-to-day work, are different. However, until the Navy was established in 1798, the Coast Guard was America’s single military force on the high seas. The names given to the Coast Guard through its history indicate its unique responsibilities. During the 1800s and early 1900s, the coastal defense organization was called the Revenue Marine and Revenue Cutter Service. Securing the US shoreline as the nation grew in size, the mission of the coastal guardians expanded from ensuring tariffs were paid and smugglers stopped to its multi-faceted responsibilities today.

In 1915, Congress mandated that the Revenue Cutter Service combine with the Life-Saving Service, taking on the new name the US Coast Guard (USCG). As the US Coast Guard History explains: “The nation then had a single maritime service dedicated to saving life at sea and enforcing the nation’s maritime laws. The Coast Guard began to maintain the country’s aids to maritime navigation, including operating the nation’s lighthouses, when President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the transfer of the Lighthouse Service to the Coast Guard in 1939.” From that point until 1967, the USCG assumed more maritime tasks. Absorbing the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation brought commercial vessel safety and licensing under the USCG. A responsibility the USCG has few know about is the administrative duties of managing all bridges over passable waterways. With all its various tasks and responsibilities, the USCG remains “at all times a military force and a federal law enforcement agency.”

Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, the USCG was placed under the administration of the US Department of Homeland Security to operate during peacetime. When the US is in armed conflict with a foreign enemy, the USCG is transferred all or in part to the US Department of the Navy within the Department of Defense for operational employment.

The USCG is a complementary yet formidable military force that protects the American shoreline and projects power overseas. With a long and proud tradition of serving to ensure the economic security of marine trade as well as the interception and incarceration of transnational criminals on the high seas, the US Coast Guard is a national defense capability in which Americans can take pride.

1. The US Coast Guard was established in 1790, and it’s the longest operating naval force for the United States.
2. The Coast Guard and the Navy have different roles, though there is some overlap.
3. The Coast Guard is considered a police force and a military force at all times. During war, it’s run by the Department of the Navy, under the Department of Defense. During peace, it’s run by the Department of Homeland Security.

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