Coast Guard Atlantic Area: Translating Strategic Direction into Tactical Excellence

By Chris Doane - March 14, 2012

A Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team crew, temporarily deployed from San Francisco, provides an escort for the USS Cole as the Navy destroyer returns to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Aug. 31, 2011. Coast Guard crews provided security zones for the Navy ships returning to harbor after Hurricane Irene. The Navy had ordered ships to head out to safer waters to protect them from the approaching storm. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert

District 8

The 8th District, headquartered in New Orleans, La., and responsible for the Gulf Coast from Florida to Mexico and the western rivers running through the nation’s heartland, changed commanders this year, with Rear Adm. Roy Nash taking the helm from Rear Adm. Mary Landry. While the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill continues along the Gulf Coast, it was not the only extraordinary event in the district last year. Unprecedented Midwest flooding created many challenges for the men and women who protect our nation’s heartland. District 8 deployed six Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) across the region in support of the Midwestern states most affected by flooding to save lives and minimize property damage. These DARTs proved invaluable during the peak flooding response and were responsible for saving 28 people from floodwaters.

District 9

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, District 9 is a seasonal, saltless, shared system that encompasses the five Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway, and parts of the surrounding eight states, including 6,700 miles of shoreline as well as 1,500 miles of the international border with Canada. Stressing people, professionalism, and partnerships, the district’s commander, Rear Adm. Michael Parks, published the Great Lakes Maritime Strategy to serve as the five-year strategic framework for the Coast Guard on the Great Lakes. The strategy focused on six enduring strategic objectives: excel at mission execution; inspire and serve the 9th District’s residents; enhance binational cooperation and governance (with Canada); optimize force allocation and resources; strengthen strategic partnerships; and share the 9th District’s story.

Crewmembers from the CGC Bear offload 4,355 pounds of cocaine at Coast Guard Sector Key West Sept. 21, 2011. The Bear crew offloaded the drugs at Sector Key West from a Sept. 9, 2011, go-fast vessel interdiction in the Caribbean Sea. District 7 performs drug and migrant interdiction in the Caribbean Sea, where these illegal activities are commonplace. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nick Ameen

In November 2010, the district entered into a first-of-its-kind agreement in the Great Lakes region with CBP as they established standard operating procedures (SOP) for Coordinated Air and Maritime Operations. This SOP and its annexes establish operational guidelines for the participants, as components within the Department of Homeland Security, to coordinate maritime air and surface operations in the airspace and waters subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. This includes the area in and over the ports and maritime approaches within the Great Lakes region geographically bordered by Lake of the Woods, Minn., to Massena, N.Y.

This article only skims the surface of the LantArea and its subordinate units’ service to the American public. As noted by Parker, “Everyone within Atlantic Area is committed to operational excellence, and the events of last year tested our skills and endurance. The men and women of Atlantic Area met those challenges with great enthusiasm and professional competence – the American public would expect nothing less from its Coast Guard.”

This article first appeared in Coast Guard Outlook: 2012 Edition.