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Coast Guard plagued by breakdowns |
2005-07-06 |
The Coast Guard's ships, planes and helicopters are breaking down at record rates, which may threaten the service's ability to carry out its post-9/11 mission of protecting ports and waterways against terrorism. Key members of Congress, maritime security experts and a former top Homeland Security Department official say that the fleet is failing and that plans to replace the Coast Guard's 88 aging cutters and 186 aircraft over the next 20 years should be accelerated."This nation must understand the dire situation in which the Coast Guard now finds itself," says Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, chairwoman of a Senate Coast Guard subcommittee. She favors replacing the Coast Guard's "deepwater" fleet - the ships and aircraft capable of operating far offshore - over 10 to 15 years. Former Coast Guard commandant and Homeland Security deputy secretary James Loy says "the stakes are simply too high in the post-9/11 environment" to continue to allow the Coast Guard's aging equipment to continue to deteriorate. Some ships are more than 50 years old, well beyond the recommended age for replacement. The Bush administration wants to increase the amount of time it will take to replace a fleet that's among the oldest on the globe - older even than fleets owned by nations such as Algeria and Pakistan. The "deepwater" replacement program, conceived in 1998 as a $20 billion, 20-year plan to replace the fleet, could be increased to 25 years under a White House plan.The strategy would save the government money in the short term. The White House budget office declined to comment. Snowe calls the idea a "violation of common sense" amid mounting concern that terrorists will try to sneak weapons of mass destruction into the USA through a port. Adm. Thomas Collins, commandant of the Coast Guard, says he supports the White House plan and has enough refurbished equipment to operate the fleet. But this month, he told Congress his equipment is failing at unacceptable rates: Stephen Flynn, a maritime security expert and former Coast Guard officer, says the agency is "operating at the level, in many instances, of a Third World navy." The Coast Guard was moved into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 and given primary responsibility for maritime security in addition to its regular duties. The added responsibilities include patrolling the nation's 361 ports and 95,000 miles of coastline, boarding and inspecting tens of thousands of cargo ships and recreational boats, and reviewing security at the nation's commercial ports. |
Posted by:tu3031 |
#4 What's up with the increase in breakdowns. "In fiscal 2004, the engines on the Coast Guard's 95 HH-65 helicopters suffered power losses at a rate of 329 per 100,000 flight hours, up from 63 per 100,000 flight hours in fiscal 2003. The comparable Federal Aviation Administration standard is 1 per 100,000 flight hours." |
Posted by: some dude 2005-07-06 10:09 |
#3 Early last century, the Coast Guard was formed by merging together several services (revenue, life-saving, lighthouses,...). Maybe we need to break the unit up again. Put one set under the Border Patrol; one under Customs; and have the rest for; rescue, icebreaking, search, and stuff like that. |
Posted by: Jackal 2005-07-06 09:53 |
#2 Cause they are the unwanted bastard of unending mission creep. Heck they started as a revenue enforcement service of the Treasury. Since then, all sorts of stuff have been laid on them. If you make them DoD, then they're subject to the restrictions of Posse Comitatus. Can't do law enforcement. If you stick them elsewhere their funding becomes less than high priority for the bureaucrats who don't like or understand people who carry guns [just ask the Border Patrol] and want them doing water safety programs at their favorite recreation spot. |
Posted by: Clith Shaising5479 2005-07-06 09:32 |
#1 We only have 88 cutters?!?! Why don't we have 888? For christ's sake give them some money!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-07-06 09:11 |