US Coast Guard faces the “greatest readiness challenge since World War II”, says Homeland Security Secretary
The USCG Polar Star cutter. (Photo: US Coast Guard)
The service currently has diverse problems in its procurement programmes and capability gaps in its inventory, writes Shephard’s North America editor Flavia Camargos Pereira.
Delays and over costs in multiple US Coast Guard (USCG) acquisition and development programmes, alongside a growing demand for the branch’s support in law enforcement and board control missions, have caused concern for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
During a hearing at the Senate Committee on Appropriations last week, Kristi Noem, Secretary of the US DHS, stated the branch was “a central pillar of American national security and power projection” and confronts “the greatest readiness crisis since World War II”.
“As a military service and law enforcement organisation, the Coast Guard faces a unique set of operational challenges and opportunities,
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