Coast Guard Intelligence
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coast Guard Intelligence is the intelligence branch of the United States Coast Guard.
The United States Coast Guard is a military, multi-mission, maritime service within the Homeland Security Department and one of the nation's five armed services. Its core roles are to protect the public, the environment, and U.S. economic and security interests in any maritime region in which those interests may be at risk, including international waters and America's coasts, ports, and inland waterways. The Coast Guard provides unique benefits to the nation because of its distinctive blend of military, humanitarian, and civilian law-enforcement capabilities. To assist in accomplishing the many diverse missions of the Coast Guard, senior leadership, and operational commanders rely on Coast Guard Intelligence.
Coast Guard intelligence came into existence in 1915 by the assignment of a "Chief Intelligence Officer" in Headquarters. Article 304 in the first set of Coast Guard Regulations provided for the establishment of a Chief Intelligence Officer who was to be attached to the Office of Assistant Commandant. The Chief Intelligence Officer's duties were spelled out in Article 614 of those same Regulations: "securing of information which is essential to the Coast Guard in carrying out its duties; for the dissemination of this information to responsible officers, operating units of the Coast Guard, the Treasury Department and other collaborating agencies; and the maintenance of adequate files and records of law enforcement activities."
The office was relatively unknown until the enactment of the Prohibition Act when CGI grew to a cadre of 45 investigators. CGI was extremely successful during prohibition and an Intelligence Division was established at Headquarters in 1930, followed by district intelligence offices in 1933.
During World War II, CGI was concerned with internal and domestic intelligence and counterintelligence]]. It was charged with conducting all necessary investigation of Coast Guard personnel, and all applicants for positions therein, as well as investigations of applicants for merchant marine documentation. Further, Coast Guard Intelligence was charged with conducting investigations in connection with the Coast Guard's regulatory functions, except Marine Inspection Regulations.
The modern Coast Guard Intelligence program has cultivated extensive relationships and partnerships with other elements of the Intelligence Community to provide timely, tailored support in a wide range of Coast Guard and national missions. These missions include port security, search and rescue, maritime safety, counter-narcotics, alien migration interdiction, and living marine resources protection.
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[edit] Assistant Commandant for Intelligence and Criminal Investigations
The Assistant Commandant for Intelligence and Criminal Investigations is Mr. James F. Sloan, who assumed the duties on 17 November 2003. Mr. Sloan’s responsibility is to direct, coordinate, and oversee intelligence and investigative operations and activities that support all Coast Guard mission objectives, the National Strategy for Homeland Security, and National Security objectives. According to his official biography, Mr. Sloan was previously the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). He was sworn in as the Director on April 12, 1999. The Department of the Treasury designated FinCEN as one of the primary agencies to establish, oversee, and implement policies to prevent and detect money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Mr. Sloan was responsible for working with the law enforcement and intelligence communities, foreign governments, and the financial and regulatory sectors to ensure effective coordination of the efforts to combat terror financing and of U.S. anti-money laundering initiatives.
He served with the United States Secret Service for 21 years, most recently as the agency's Deputy Assistant Director for Protective Operations. He was responsible for the management of the Service's protective mission, which includes the protection of the President of the United States; Vice President; and others; as well as the protection of major events of national interest. He was also the Senior Program Manager of the Secret Service's Anti-Terrorism programs and represented the Secret Service as a member of the National Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Security Group.
Mr. Sloan began his public service career in Union County, New Jersey in 1970. He served as a police officer and investigator for eight years prior to joining the Secret Service and being assigned to its New York City Field Office where he specialized in financial crime investigations. He held several investigative, protective, intelligence, and managerial positions, including as Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office and the Service's Office of Investigations; Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Baltimore Field Office and the Office of Administration; as well as Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge of the Presidential Protective Division.
He served as a Lieutenant in the United States Army from 1966 to 1969. In 2004, he was named Distinguished Graduate of the US Army Signal Officer Candidate School.
[edit] Transfer of Certain Functions to CGIS
In 1948, CGI became the primary investigative arm of the service. This mandate for an "investigative service" required that special agents conduct criminal, counterintelligence and personnel security investigations within the Coast Guard's area of responsibility. The majority of these investigations involved those criminal offenses which are in violation of the UCMJ.
In 1996, in compliance with the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency, the Coast Guard reorganized all criminal investigative and protective-services functions into the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS). The centralization of CGIS meant reorganization from the top down. Special agents now worked for a regional Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC). The SACs were located in seven regional offices in Boston, Portsmouth, Virginia, Miami, Cleveland, New Orleans, Alameda, California, and Seattle. The SACs, in turn, reported to the director of CGIS at Headquarters who reported to the Chief of Operations and the vice commandant.
[edit] Field Intelligence Support Teams
Field Intelligence Support Team (FIST)s are a vital component of the Coast Guard's Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security (PWCS) mission and against the large number of threats to homeland security. According to the United Stats Coast Guard, the primary function of a FIST is to “collect Law Enforcement Intelligence on all maritime threats, exchange information through relationships with government and private entities, conduct first order analysis, and disseminate tactical and operational intelligence directly to port level commanders as well as other Coast Guard units and government agencies.”
[edit] Intelligence Community
On December 28, 2001, President George W. Bush signed legislation that amended the National Security Act of 1947 to make Coast Guard Intelligence a member of the Intelligence Community.
