CS21 states that maritime security supports U.S. efforts to uphold the laws, rules, and norms that govern standards of behavior in the maritime commons for transit, trade, and the pursuit of natural resources.
To meet its commitments, the Coast Guard recapitalization efforts are vital to the strategy’s direction for the sea services to strengthen partnerships and capacity in the Western Hemisphere to protect the homeland and to counter illicit trafficking and transnational criminal organizations. The fleet of highly capable, multi-mission ships and aircraft, including the national security cutter now in operation and the planned offshore patrol cutter, as well as maritime patrol aircraft, are vital to countering threats, particularly in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Eastern Pacific Ocean.
A crewmember of the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team based out of Chesapeake, Virginia, applies flex cuffs to a detained member of the icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum’s crew during a hostile boarding and ship re-take training exercise held aboard the vessel in Mackinaw City, Michigan, April 19, 2015, as part of Operation Arctic Eagle. Arctic Eagle is a joint service and international exercise that addresses the defense of critical infrastructure within the Arctic Circle. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher M. Yaw
The 4.5-million-square-mile U.S. EEZ is the largest in the world. The sea services enable the United States to manage those critical mineral and marine resources. Furthermore, the United States has an international responsibility for search and rescue within its EEZ and in the larger Western Hemisphere transit zone. The Coast Guard’s experience and expertise is at the forefront of these missions.
According to the document, “The Coast Guard will deploy personnel to build partner nation capacity for maritime governance and simultaneously conduct maritime security, infrastructure protection, and port state control activities. Coast Guard patrol boats and deployable specialized forces on Navy and coalition ships will counter illicit maritime activity.”
What’s paramount, according to CS21, is “cooperation with other coast guards to address both military and non-military state-sponsored challenges to sovereign rights.”
“Additionally, the Coast Guard will work with regional partners and navies using joint and combined patrols, ship-rider exchanges, and multinational exercises to build proficient maritime governance forces, enhance cooperation in maritime safety and security, and reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing,” the strategy reads. “These multinational efforts are furthered through the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative and participation in the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum.”
The United States continues to work with partners around the world in the enforcement of international law, particularly in the face of transnational criminal organizations (TCO) and their vast networks that threaten U.S. security and stability, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere, especially in Central America and the southern approaches of the U.S. homeland.
The economic security of many nations relies on fishing. Many fish stocks are fragile, and subject to unlicensed or illegal fishing that costs the global economy billions of dollars each year. Working with international fisheries management organizations, the United States is helping to build international capacity to preserve sustainable fish stocks and other living marine resources to promote global economic security.
The United States continues to work with partners around the world in the enforcement of international law, particularly in the face of transnational criminal organizations (TCO) and their vast networks that threaten U.S. security and stability, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere, especially in Central America and the southern approaches of the U.S. homeland. “Their networks facilitate human trafficking and interrelated flows of weapons, narcotics, and money, all of which could be exploited by terrorists to attack our homeland, allies, and overseas interests. Environmental trends are increasingly shaping the maritime security environment, particularly in the littorals where most of the world’s population resides,” the strategy states.
According to Zukunft, “The Coast Guard has more than 60 bilateral agreements with foreign governments that enable us to project maritime governance, rule of law, and global leadership through combined operations with host nations.”
Pre-eminent service in the Arctic
The service will be the pre-eminent service in the Arctic. “The Coast Guard will apply the multi-mission capabilities of the national security cutter to provide a tailored seasonal presence for command and control and aerial surveillance, and will begin the design process for a new, heavy icebreaking capability to support operations in both the Arctic and Antarctic. The Coast Guard will also pursue the formation of a maritime assistance, coordination, and operations group, open to members of the eight Arctic Council nations. The purpose of this group will be coordination of multinational search and rescue operations, training exercises, maritime traffic management, disaster response, and information sharing.”