Adm. Karl Schultz, Coast Guard commandant, delivers the 2019 State of the Coast Guard Address at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach in San Pedro, Calif., on March 21, 2019. Coast Guard Image
SAN PEDRO, Calif. — As the Coast Guard continues modernizing with new cutters, drones and other technologies, its top leader warns the service will reach a “tipping point” without sufficient resources to support and sustain the force. Read More
Coast Guard Divers repair Heavy Icebreaker USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-10) during the cutter’s 2019 deployment to McMurdo Station Antarctica. US Coast Guard Image
The Coast Guard plans to award a contract this spring to build a new heavy icebreaker, but Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz says today’s problems running the one decades-old icebreaker illustrate the fragility of the current polar icebreaking capability. Read More
Contractors prepare to exchange the 16-foot-diameter propellers on the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star while the cutter undergoes repair work at a dry dock in Vallejo, Calif., on June 14, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo
The Coast Guard’s proposed Fiscal Year 2020 budget proposal includes a $35-million request to keep the momentum moving on the second Polar Security Cutter.
A curious Adelie penguin stands near the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star on McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 7, 2016. During their visit to Antarctica for Deep Freeze 2016, the U.S. military’s logistical support to the National Science Foundation-managed U.S. Antarctic Program, the Polar Star crew encounters a variety of Antarctic marine life, including penguins, whales and seals. U.S. Coast Guard photo
The Coast Guard’s long-sought heavy icebreaker, the Polar Security Cutter, was among the programs to receive funding when Congress passed a spending package on late Thursday.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Shannon Eubanks (left) instructs Petty Officer 2nd Class Ed Traver (right) on ice rescue techniques on Oct. 3, 2018, about 715 miles north of Barrow, Alaska, in the Arctic. US Coast Guard Photo
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2018. This story is part of a series; please also see U.S. Marine Corps Operations and U.S. Navy Operations.
For the U.S. Coast Guard, 2018 started and ended with news about the service’s new fleet of polar icebreakers.
Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star participate in various activities on the ice about 13 miles from McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Jan. 26, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo
The U.S. Coast Guard’s funding for a polar icebreaker is set to be postponed yet again, after Congress and President Donald Trump again failed to reach an agreement on Fiscal Year 2019 funding for the Department of Homeland Security and the Senate today began work on passing another short-term continuing resolution. Read More
Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star participate in various activities on the ice about 13 miles from McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Jan. 26, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz is guardedly optimistic his service will get funding for a new Polar Security Cutter in time to start construction in 2019. Read More
Crew of U.S Coast Guard icebreaker USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) in 2014. US Coast Guard Photo
The U.S. Coast Guard changed the name of its heavy icebreaker program to highlight its importance to national security, as funding for the first-in-class ship may be in jeopardy.
