Heroic. That’s the word for the Coast Guard’s response when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005.They got to the scene fast — four hours before even Army National Guard units could arrive.And they began rescue operations immediately.
Ultimately, the Coast Guard rescued and evacuated more than 33,000 people. Along the way, they provided food, water, shelter, and medical supplies to survivors. They also managed the response to environmental threats, including oil spills.
Perhaps most importantly, the Coast Guard provided able leadership. After the initial, inept federal response, President George W. Bush turned to Adm. Thad Allen and made him the principal official for organizing relief operations.
The Coast Guard’s performance was truly amazing, considering that they had to carry out their mission with such poor assets.The Coast Guard’s planes and ships were aged and wearing out.Some cutters were old enough to collect Social Security.
Katrina was five years ago.Today, America faces another Gulf Coast disaster, a massive oil spill from an exploding wellhead at an offshore platform.
Once again, the American president has sent in the Coast Guard. And once again, he has appointed Allen — now the commandant of the Coast Guard (and on the verge of retirement) — as lead federal official.
History is repeating in another way, too. The Coast Guard remains about as ill-equipped as it was in 2005. A long-standing (pre-9/11) modernization plan, called “Deepwater,” has never been adequately funded.Even the partial funding received has failed to produce much progress, as the program has become increasingly mired in political controversy and policy missteps.
And while modernization has proceeded at a glacial pace, the Coast Guard has been wearing out its assets faster than ever.Since 9/11, the service has been busier than ever, with new responsibilities for port security, inland and border water patrol and battling transnational smuggling.
Even before the wellhead blew, the service was showing signs of excess stress. Recently Allen reported, “Of the 12 major cutters assigned to Haiti relief operations, 10, or 83 percent, suffered severe mission-affecting casualties. Two were forced to return to port for emergency repairs, and one proceeded to an emergency dry dock.”
Yet, rather than rebuild the Coast Guard, Congress and the president are cutting back.They’re even scaling back on assets needed to deal with catastrophic disasters.
The Coast Guard’s National Strike Force is specifically organized to respond to oil spills and other hazardous materials disasters. It is being cut.
“The problem is that, if you take away our equipment, like in Alaska or in Hawaii,” said Cmdr. Tina Cutter, deputy commander of the National Strike Force, “you’d be taking as much as 75 percent of the ability to respond in an offshore or near-shore environment. If you take away our equipment in the rest of the ports, it is one-third of the ability in that port to respond in an offshore environment.”
The strike force is not the only Coast Guard asset on the chopping block. When the president went to the Gulf Coast, he posed before one of the new Legend Class cutters for a photo-op. That program is slotted for cuts as well.
Overall, President Obama has told the Coast Guard to shed nearly 1,000 personnel, five cutters, and several helicopters and aircraft.
Even as Allen battles oil spills off Louisiana, he is struggling with decisions on how to balance the service’s budget.To preserve at least some money for fleet modernization, he will have no choice but to reduce current readiness.
Forcing commanders to make such trade-offs is a prescription for national security disaster.
Examiner Columnist James Jay Carafano is a senior research fellow for national security at the Heritage Foundation ( heritage.org).
