On August 4th, the United States Coast Guard celebrates their 218th Birthday.
Just four years ago, after days of searching, the U.S. Coast Guard 27,243 people from rooftops and flooded neighborhoods, devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Additionally, Coast Guard personnel assisted with the evacuation of an additional 9,462 patients and medical personnel from hospitals and nursing homes.
Although the entire World has watched their helicopters, aircraft, and cutters streak across their television screens that week, many people know very little about this dedicated group of silent heroes.
Created out of Government Streamlining
The United States Coast Guard is this nation's oldest and its premier maritime agency. Detailing the history of the Coast Guard is not easy because it's the amalgamation of five Federal agencies ( the Revenue Cutter Service, the Lighthouse Service, the Steamboat Inspection Service, the Bureau of Navigation, and the Lifesaving Service), all of which were established by the United States Government, at different times. Because they had overlapping responsibilities, they were often shuffled from one end of the Government to the other, receiving new names as they went along. They were all finally united under the umbrella of the Coast Guard.
On 7 August 1789, the First Congress federalized the existing lighthouses built by the colonies and appropriated funds for lighthouses, beacons, and buoys. Each lighthouse is unique because they generally reflect the latest technology available at the time they were constructed There have been more than 1,000 lighthouses built, and their administration bounced from the Treasury Department to the Commerce Department for almost 150 years before it was finally transferred to the Coast Guard in 1939.
Law Enforcement
The Coast Guard's law enforcement responsibilities have been threefold over the decades:. First, to ensure that tariffs were paid. Second, to protect shipping from pirates and third, to intercept contraband. Today, the payment of import taxes and tariffs don't seem like a big deal, but in 1789, it was the height of controversy. The new government needed money if the nation was going to survive, but the populace had grown accustomed to smuggling goods to the colonies to avoid King George's trade laws.
Congress created a fleet of ten cutters whose responsibilities would be enforcement of the tariff laws.
Seven of the ten cutters were built for the allotted $1,000 each. Two New England cutters exceeded the amount by $500, possibly the first case of "Defense Overrun Spending." During the cutters' first ten years of service, the imports and exports of the nation rose from $52 million to $205 million.
Intercepting contraband became the Coast Guard's prime mission prior to World War II. This responsibility was mainly a result of Prohibition, (1920-1933), and later in that decade by the prelude of World War II. Following the war, the Coast Guard's prime responsibility shifted largely to safety at sea and aiding navigation.
In the early 1960s, law enforcement once again assumed increased significance. In 1959, Fidel Castro took power in Cuba and within two years, the Coast Guard established patrols to aid refugees and to enforce neutrality, interdicting the transportation of men and arms. This responsibility peaked in 1965 due to increased restrictions on immigration from Cuba and then abated. During the early 1970s, an old law enforcement job, drug interception, took on increasing emphasis which continues today. From 1963 through 1979, the Coast Guard seized 304 vessels, confiscated over $4 billion in contraband and made 1,959 arrests.
Environmental Protection
The Coast Guard has helped to protect he environment for 150 years. In 1822 the Congress created a timber reserve for the Navy and authorized the President to use whatever forces necessary to prevent the cutting of live-oak on public lands.
The shallow-draft cutters were well-suited to this service and were used extensively. Since then, environmental inspection and enforcement has grown to occupy a large part of Coast Guard resources, especially in Alaska.
Search and Rescue
In 1831 the Secretary of the Treasury directed the revenue cutter Gallatin to cruise the coast in search of persons in distress. This was the first time a government agency was tasked specifically to search for those who might be in danger, and over the years, became the primary operational focus of the Coast Guard.
During the 1900s the five different elements, which now comprise the United States Coast Guard, were consolidated, and passed back and forth between the Navy Department and the Department of Commerce. Finally, in 1967, all of the components were finally in place under Coast Guard control, and the Coast Guard itself was placed under the authority of the newly formed Department of Transportation. On March 1, 2003, the Coast Guard was transferred to the brand new Department of Homeland Security. Operational control of the Coast Guard shifts to the Navy during times of war.
