The Coasties

The Coast Guard has always been the redheaded stepchild of the American military. In fact, except during World War 2 the Coast Guard has never really been part of the military. Originally created as an American counterpart to the British coast guards, it's original job was, under the aegis of the Department of Treasury, to prevent smuggling and to make sure that duties were paid on goods imported into old America. Later the Coasties were taken over by the Department of Transportation when they were given the added duties of seeing to the seaworthiness of ships and boats, and the manning and maintenance of lighthouses. After September 11, 2001 the Coasties became part of that awful new department called the Department of Homeland Security (President Bush must have fallen off the wagon when he approved that name) and their duties were added to by the expectation that they would be able to somehow spot terrorists at sea.

During your correspondent's less than sterling naval career the Coasties were referred to a "Shallow Water Sailors." But the more I saw of the Coasties, the more I was impressed. They were always doing something -- rescuing stranded boaters, searching ships for contraband, chasing drug smugglers, while I sat on a 30 year old destroyer waiting for a war that never came. The Coasties had better training, better uniforms and a better domestic mission than us Blue Water sailors had. More than one time while watching a Coastie stroll by wearing a flat cap (the Navy sailors at the time wore Dixie Cup caps) I found myself wishing that I'd signed up for the Coast Guard instead of the Navy.

Now, six days after the hurricane Katrina, the Coasties have shown that they are worth more, domestically, than the Navy or the National Guard. A day after the levee started falling apart in New Orleans the Coasties started rescuing people. At the same time the National Guard, through no fault of its own, was cooling its heels waiting for the orders from the state and/or federal governments.- The Coasties have more than lived up to their motto "Always Prepared." As of the date of this post the Coast Guard has rescued more than 9,000 people throughout the Delta. For a service that is small and underfunded, that's an impressive number.

If you're a theist, thank the Lord for the Coasties. If you're not, thank God anyway.