Coast Guard: Capabilities and Challenges for the Future

The Coast Guard, within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is charged with preventing loss of life, injury, and property damage in the maritime environment through its SAR mission. It maintains over 200 stations with various assets, such as boats and helicopters (depending on the station), along U.S. coasts and inland waterways to carry out this mission, as well as its other missions such as maritime security. Chapter 1 will review: the status of the Coast Guard's recapitalization program; new technologies that could assist the Coast Guard; maintenance requirements of its ageing vessels; operating costs for the new vessels; and shore-side infrastructure needs and priorities. The Coast Guard's missions in the Arctic include: defense readiness, ice operations, marine environmental protection, and ports, waterways and coastal security. Chapter 2 discusses the Coast Guard's Arctic capabilities. Chapter 3 addresses the extent to which the Coast Guard has (1) a sound process for analyzing the need for its boat stations and (2) taken actions to implement its boat station process results.