In May 2013, both the White House and the Coast Guard outlined strategies for addressing these and other challenges. The “National Strategy for the Arctic Region” put forth the U.S. government’s strategic priorities for the Arctic, and proposed three primary “lines of effort”: advancing U.S. security interests, pursuing responsible Arctic stewardship, and strengthening international cooperation. As the Arctic continues to change, the document concludes, “Our economic development and environmental stewardship must go hand-in-hand. The unique Arctic environment will require a commitment by the United States to make judicious, coordinated infrastructure investment decisions, informed by science.”

“Our economic development and environmental stewardship must go hand-in-hand. The unique Arctic environment will require a commitment by the United States to make judicious, coordinated infrastructure investment decisions, informed by science.”

On the heels of this release, Adm. Bob Papp, Coast Guard commandant, signed and published the service’s strategy for supporting this national effort. The “United States Coast Guard Arctic Strategy” focuses on three strategic objectives to be pursued over the next decade: improving awareness, modernizing governance, and broadening partnerships.

One of the biggest challenges to achieving these goals has been a lack of investment in infrastructure and assets. The strategy also addresses the difficulties presented by the nation’s current fiscal constraints, which are likely to extend into at least the near future. As the Coast Guard carefully catalogs the gaps between its 11 statutory missions in the Arctic and the assets it needs to carry them out, the strategy document outlines the steps the Coast Guard and other decision-makers can realistically expect to achieve in the next decade, given that there will be few, if any, deep-water ports sprouting up in western or northern Alaska, and no new long-range patrol vessels or billion-dollar icebreakers commissioned to assure access to the remotest regions.

The Coast Guard Arctic strategy calls for the service to continue sharing responsibilities and leveraging capabilities among its international, federal, state, local, and tribal partners in the Arctic to meet legal and policy responsibilities. As it works to specify its material needs, the service will continue to make use of temporary FOLs similar to those established in Arctic Shield exercises. “The use of mobile assets and seasonal presence, supplemented by existing shore-based infrastructure,” the strategy concluded, “will be the preferred strategy for Coast Guard operations during periods of peak activity.”

“The use of mobile assets and seasonal presence, supplemented by existing shore-based infrastructure,” the strategy concluded, “will be the preferred strategy for Coast Guard operations during periods of peak activity.”

By no means, however, should it be imagined that these seasonal surges, by themselves, are the way of the future for the Coast Guard in the Arctic. “The Coast Guard’s legacy,” reads the strategy document, “is defined uniquely, and proudly, by adaptation through adversity.” Seasonal deployments such as Arctic Shield 2012 and 2013, while they represent the largest force packages ever deployed to the region, are merely a snapshot of where the service is now. The Arctic is changing – and the world responding – so rapidly that it’s become clear: This is a new chapter in Coast Guard history, one just beginning to be written.

This article first appeared in the Coast Guard Outlook 2014 Edition.