What lessons learned are being studied in the wake of Deepwater Horizon?

Well, as you know, several studies are ongoing. First and foremost, we need to be a learning organization. With every major response, there are important lessons that we, as an agency, need to capture, learn, and ensure we apply to the next response. One unique feature of Deepwater Horizon was that the responsible party, BP, was the only entity that possessed the deep sea technology to operate a mile underwater. Government needs to decide whether it wants to obtain some capability to independently deal with a deep water response, or be in the position of relying on the responsible party. We also need to ensure more resources are on-hand, and we aren’t in the position of having to spend precious time engineering solutions while oil continues to gush. Some of these solutions need to be on-scene and at-the-ready. Additionally, as with any response of this magnitude, a whole of government response is required, including support from our DoD partners. We need to continue to strengthen these partnerships because we increasingly rely on them. Recent examples include natural disaster responses, such as the earthquake in Haiti, and hurricane responses, as well as man-made incidents like Deepwater Horizon. The more we work jointly, the better our unity of effort.

 

What about all the criticisms leveled at the Coast Guard, especially in the early weeks of the oil spill in the Gulf?

I understand our citizens in the Gulf have been frustrated. Our Coast Guard men and women understand their frustration. This environmental disaster struck directly at their livelihoods and way of life. Indeed, may of our Coast Guard responders are citizens of the Gulf.

I’m very proud of our response – and of our Coast Guard men and women. They immediately responded to what began as a rig explosion and search and rescue case and transitioned into a massive oil spill response with continuous flow from a well-head one mile below sea level. We led an ongoing major response effort for months, and now that the well is capped, we continue to resolve the effects of this spill.

We responded with our normal operational principles – to send resources for a worst-case scenario, which included aircraft, ships and about 3,000 people. And I’m proud of the unprecedented response we mounted. When you look at the end result, I think a lot of people will conclude we got a lot of things right in dealing with a response scenario we’d never faced before.

The bottom line is nobody wins in an oil spill, nobody is happy; it’s almost impossible to prevent oil from getting up on the beach. You just have to keep fighting it. We did just that. Now with the well secured, our people will keep working until they have done all they can. Ultimately, we will be judged by the actions of our people – their dedication to duty and work. And, as I said, I am very proud of our all-hands-on-deck effort.

While at-sea firefighting is not a Coast Guard requirement, given the number of operating offshore wells, cruise ships, and cargo vessels – including those carrying volatile cargo – is that something the Coast Guard will or should be looking into for the future?

There is always a danger in overreacting to the last incident you have. The Coast Guard currently reviews firefighting plans, establishes requirements for firefighting equipment aboard offshore oil rigs, and inspects them on a regular basis – this approach has been successful over the years. The offshore supply vessels that service the rigs are otherwise adequately equipped with firefighting equipment. Similarly, with respect to cruise ships, or large passenger vessels – we establish crew training requirements, firefighting equipment requirements, and we inspect the equipment and observe crew drills on a regular basis. While our cutters have firefighting equipment aboard and we will always respond, the Coast Guard is not looking to assume primary responsibility for offshore firefighting – doing so would require special-purpose ships with limited day-to-day utility to the government.

After Hurricane Katrina, the federal government was criticized for not doing enough; during Deepwater Horizon, for preventing the states from doing what they wanted. What is the Coast Guard doing to clarify the differences in law and responsibility between such incidents?

There is a large inventory of oil skimming vessels and boats and boom around the country. This equipment is maintained by the facilities and ports where it is sited, and in many cases, maintenance is performed by private contractors.

I’m very proud of our response – and of our Coast Guard men and women. They immediately responded to what began as a rig explosion and search and rescue case and transitioned into a massive oil spill response with continuous flow from a well-head one mile below sea level. We led an ongoing major response effort for months, and now that the well is capped, we continue to resolve the effects of this spill.

When the great need came up in the Gulf for boom and skimmers, my initial thought was to reduce the level of equipment required to be maintained around the country, which, in theory, would require industry and others to move assets. The fact is, many of our ports had existing contractual relationships with clean-up resources like oil skimmers — some of them were required to by law. Whether required by law or otherwise, few local authorities were willing to lend their oil clean-up equipment, because doing so put their ports at risk.

The law was drafted to prevent the federal government from reaching in and grabbing clean-up equipment, but, in this instance, it made it difficult to respond to this national incident. Going forward, we’ll have to take a look at how well these laws served us. If we think the law needs to be changed, we will make appropriate legislative change proposals.

What is the implementation status of the Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower signed by the Coast Guard, Navy, and Marine Corps?

From a strategic viewpoint, we have regular meetings with the Navy and Marine Corps to share information and see how we can be mutually supportive. The [Jan 12, 2010] earthquake in Haiti was a good demonstration of how our cooperative strategy works. We had Coast Guard cutters in the vicinity of Haiti when the earthquake occurred. I was able to break them off from their missions and have them arrive in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, immediately following the earthquake. But Coast Guard cutters have limited capacity and capabilities; while our cutters were able to get on scene quickly, they don’t have the resources to sustain a long-term response. Our cutters effectively performed their role as first responders, rapidly arriving on scene, evacuating injured personnel, and providing medical treatment and aid until the Navy could deploy more capable hospital and amphibious ships to sustain the response.

Is that agreement one-of-a-kind or are you looking at it as a template for similar agreements with other services or government agencies?

We enjoy an exceptionally close relationship with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, having fought side by side in war and supporting each other in humanitarian operations. The Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower solidifies our unity of effort as we face an ever-changing asymmetrical threat and ensures that America’s maritime forces speak, act, and operate together. With that in mind, one of my principles as commandant is to Strengthen our Partnerships. Therefore, I envision the Cooperative Maritime Strategy as a model for future partnerships.

What is the Coast Guard doing to meet the government’s “green” initiatives?

The Coast Guard is committed to making our Service more environmentally friendly through green initiatives, including renewable energy, fuel savings, recycling, and water conservation. We actively use solar [power] systems to produce clean energy, as well as biomass and wind energy systems. We also have a number of LEED^® [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certified facilities, with several others in the LEED certification process. Looking ahead, the Coast Guard will continue to pursue these vitally important green initiatives and strive to be a leader in sustainable development and environmental stewardship – after all, environmental protection is one of our core missions.

The Coast Guard has evolved into a single entity performing multiple duties, from law enforcement and aids to navigation to homeland security and warfighting. As each continues to grow, how do you see the Coast Guard in 2020?

I’ve witnessed the ebbs and flows of the budget and some pretty drastic times, the worst of which was in the mid-’90s when we sent about 5,000 people home, and then the great growth of the last few years. The budget is constrained, but it’s still a good budget. However, ships and aircraft get old and need replacement.

We are a very capital- and people-intensive service, which carries a great cost, but there will always be competing things going on in the federal government, so we will have good years and not so good years. We will do the best we can on any given day with the resources we have and accept limits in some areas while we address pressing issues.