Forerunner to Navy, Coast Guard has been with us since 1790

By Roz Butziger
Posted 1/11/17

We've looked at some of the Coast Guard stations in and around Narragansett Bay, but when did the Coast Guard come into being? In 1790, it was the Revenue Cutter Service and actually was our country's only armed service on the sea, since the navy wasn't

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Forerunner to Navy, Coast Guard has been with us since 1790

Posted

We’ve looked at some of the Coast Guard stations in and around Narragansett Bay, but when did the Coast Guard come into being? In 1790, it was the Revenue Cutter Service and actually was our country’s only armed service on the sea, since the navy wasn’t established until 1798. It wasn’t until much later that the Coast Guard was formally designated a military service. It took part in the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and had an important mission of preventing slave trade. This forerunner of our Coast Guard captured over 500 slave ships!

In 1939, the Coast Guard merged with the US Lighthouse Service and almost 30 years later was put under the Dept. of Transportation. Finally in 2003 it was put under the Dept. of Homeland Security. It is still a part of the US Armed Forces. This very selective service has only about 45,000 members, not many more than the NYPD. The Coast Guard performs more than 20,000 Search and Rescues each year, and is the major part of our war on drugs, seizing 200,000 pounds of cocaine in only one year.

Coasties protect more than 10,000 miles of inland waterways as well as our coastal waters. They played a large role in the humanitarian efforts during the “500 year flood” of the Mississippi, sending 380 active duty men and women to perform rescues, sandbag, and distribute water and food, bringing to safety 40,000 people and 10,000 livestock. They saved more than 30,000 people during Hurricane Katrina, making rooftop rescues, evacuating hospitals, etc. using both air and boat crews. In a storm off Ketchikan, Alaska, the Coast Guard helicopters and cutters rescued passengers and crew from a sinking Dutch cruise ship. All 520 people were brought to shore safely.

Not limited to US waters, the Coast Guard serves around the world. They operated in Vietnam, and in Kosovo where they acted as security for US cargo transports. The NATO Kosovo medal was awarded to the USCG vessel Bear. Besides guarding our own coasts, the Coast Guard sent ships and personnel to the Persian Gulf, to participate in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and sent cutters to Iraq. They also dispatched teams to Afghanistan and Kuwait, besides deploying men and women on intelligence and cyber teams. In Europe and Africa, they carry on accident investigations, inspect US merchant ships, perform Port Security and work with the US Embassies.

Where do they receive the training to do all this? Cape May New Jersey is the location for 8-week basic training – “Boot Camp”- for anyone enlisting in the Coast Guard. Physical, classroom, and hands-on training are extremely rigorous but those men and women who make it through are given the rank of seaman or fireman and sent off to their first assignment, where they will be further trained for advancement and specialization. There are opportunities to demonstrate their skills, leadership training, and national exams. Enlisted personnel with enough college credits can apply to Officer Candidate School.

We are fortunate to have these highly trained, dedicated Coast Guard officers and enlisted men and women keeping us safe.

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