Portal:United States Coast Guard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States armed forces involved in maritime law, mariner assistance, and search and rescue, among other duties of coast guards elsewhere. As one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and the smallest armed service of the United States, its stated mission is to protect the public, the environment, and the United States 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.
USCG has a broad and important role in homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine environmental pollution response, and the maintenance of river, intracoastal and offshore aids to navigation (ATON). It also lays claim to being the United States' oldest continuous seagoing service. The United States Coast Guard has about 40,150 men and women on active duty.
The Coast Guard's motto is Semper Paratus, meaning "Always Ready".
The legal basis for the Coast Guard is which states: "The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times." On February 25, 2003, the Coast Guard was placed under the Department of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security. However, under as amended by section 211 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates as a service in the Department of the Navy.
As members of a military service, Coast Guardsmen on active and reserve service are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and receive the same pay and allowances as members of the same pay grades in the other four armed service.
Portal:United States Coast Guard/Selected article
Portal:United States Coast Guard/Selected picture
Admiral Thad William Allen (born January 16, 1949) is the twenty-third Commandant of the United States Coast Guard. Allen is most well known for his widely-praised performance directing the federal response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast region from September 2005 to January 2006.
Allen served as the Coast Guard's chief of staff from May 2002 until May 2006. As chief of staff, Allen was third in the Coast Guard's command structure, and was commanding officer of Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Allen directed the Coast Guard's East Coast response efforts to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 while serving as Atlantic Area Commander and Commander of the Maritime Defense Zone Atlantic.
Portal:United States Coast Guard/Did you know
See Official news
Portal:United States Coast Guard/Quotes
Portal:United States Coast Guard/United States Coast Guard topics
Portal:United States Coast Guard/Things you can do
