US Coast Guard
History of the United States Coast Guard
The roots of the Coast Guard lie in the United States Revenue Cutter Service established by Alexander Hamilton under the Department of the Treasury on 4 August 1790. The first Coast Guard station was in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Until the re-establishment of the United States Navy in 1798, the Revenue Cutter Service was the only naval force of the early United States. It was established to collect taxes from a brand new nation of patriot smugglers. When the officers were out at sea, they were told to crack down on piracy; while they were at it, they might as well rescue anyone in distress.
"First Fleet" is a term occasionally used as an informal reference to the U.S. Coast Guard, although there is no indication that the United States has ever officially used this designation with reference either to the Coast Guard or any element of the U.S. Navy. The informal appellation honors the fact that between 1790 and 1798, there was no United States Navy and the cutters which were the predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard were the only warships protecting the coast, trade, and maritime interests of the new republic.
The modern Coast Guard can be said to date to 1915, when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service and Congress formalized the existence of the new organization. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was brought under its purview. In 1942, the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation was transferred to the Coast Guard. In 1967, the Coast Guard moved from the Department of the Treasury to the newly formed Department of Transportation, an arrangement that lasted until it was placed under the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 as part of legislation designed to more efficiently protect American interests following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.
In times of war, the Coast Guard or individual components of it can operate as a service of the Department of the Navy. This arrangement has a broad historical basis, as the Guard has been involved in wars as diverse as the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War, in which the cutter Harriet Lane fired the first naval shots attempting to relieve besieged Fort Sumter. The last time the Coast Guard operated as a whole under the Navy was in World War II. More often, military and combat units within the Coast Guard will operate under Navy or Joint operational control while other Coast Guard units will remain under the Department of Homeland Security.
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of seven uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission (with jurisdiction both domestically and in international waters) and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set. It operates under the Department of Homeland Security during peacetime, and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy by the President or Congress during time of war.
Founded by Alexander Hamilton as the Revenue Cutter Service on 4 August 1790, it lays claim to being the United States' oldest continuous seagoing service. As of August 2009, the Coast Guard had approximately 42,000 men and women on active duty, 7,500 reservists, 29,000 auxiliarists, and 7,700 full-time civilian employees.
The Coast Guard has separate legal authority than the other four armed services and operates under simultaneously under Title 10 of the United States Code and its other organic authorities, e.g., Titles 6, 14, 19, 33, 46, etc. Because of its legal authority, the Coast Guard can conduct military operations under the Department of Defense or directly for the President in accordance with Title 14 USC 1-3.
The Coast Guard's enduring roles are Maritime Safety, Maritime Security, and Maritime Stewardship. To carry out those roles the Coast Guard has 11 statutory missions as defined in 6 U.S.C. § 468.
The Coast Guard motto is "Semper Paratus", Latin for "Always Ready" or "Always Prepared".
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