Coast Guard
The Coast Guard is the oldest continuous maritime service in the United States. Established by Alexander Hamilton in 1790 under the Department of the Treasury, the first duty of the “Revenue Cutter Service” was to collect taxes from smugglers, stop pirates, and “while they were at it, they might as well rescue anyone in distress.” Between 1790 and 1798 this early form of the Coast Guard was the only fleet protecting the coast. There was no US Navy. Occasionally, the term “First Fleet” is used to honor the Coast Guard as a remembrance of this fact.
In 1915 the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service and Congress officially recognized the Coast Guard. The US Lighthouse Service was attached to the organization in 1939. Another group was transferred to the Guard in 1942 when the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation also combined with the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard moved from the Department of the Treasury to the newly formed Department of Transportation In 1967, an arrangement that lasted until it was placed under the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 following legislation to better protect American interests after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
As of July 2009, the Coast Guard has approximately 42,000 men and women on active duty, 7,400 on reserve, 7,600 full time civilian employees, and 29,000 in auxiliary positions. These four components of the Guard (active duty, reserve, auxiliary, and civilian) are collectively referred to as “Team Coast Guard.” There are eleven missions of the Coast Guard including: Ports, waterways, and coastal security, drug interdiction, aids to navigation, search and rescue, living marine resources, marine safety, defense readiness, migrant interdiction, marine environmental protection, ice operations, and other law enforcement. The formal name for a member of the Coast Guard, regardless of gender, is “Coast Guardsman.” “Coastie” is the general nickname, although “Guardian” has recently become popular.
Although combat has never been its chief mission, the Coast Guard has been involved in every US conflict since its conception in 1790. From firing the first naval shots to relieve Fort Sumter during the Civil War to landing troops on D-Day in World War II to participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom with missions like coastal and transportation security and maritime interception operations, the Coast Guard is truly “always prepared” as its motto states. “While most military services are either at war or training for war, the Coast Guard is deployed every day.”
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For more information about the Coast Guard and other special forces teams, please visit http://www.specialforces.com/
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – A Brief History of the US Coast Guard
US Coast Guard Boot Camp
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