Coast Guard Commandant Needs the ‘Right Tools’ to Improve Recruitment, Retention

Coast Guard crew members aboard cutter USCGC Midgett (WMSL-757) and U.S. Navy Sailors check the flight deck for debris prior to flight operations as part of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022. US Coast Guard Photo

In her first appearance as Coast Guard commandant before the House Homeland Security Transportation and Maritime Security panel, Adm. Linda Fagan said, “the biggest issue at hand centers around people” and having the “right tools” available to recruit, retain and “serve successfully” in...

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/14/coast-guard-commandant-needs-the-right-tools-to-improve-recruitment-retention

New Coast Guard Commandant Fagan Sets Priority on Policy, Personnel

Adm. Linda Fagan relieves Adm. Karl Schultz as the 27th commandant of the Coast Guard during a change of command ceremony at Coast Guard headquarters June 1, 2022. US Coast Guard Photo

Adm. Linda Fagan pledged her “highest priority as commandant will be to transform our policy management system” in remarks following her swearing in as the 27th leader of the Coast Guard and the first woman to lead a branch of the armed services.

Speaking Wednesday at the change-of-command ceremony in Washington,...

https://news.usni.org/2022/06/02/new-coast-guard-commandant-fagan-sets-priority-on-policy-personnel

Senate Approves First Female Commandant for Coast Guard

Vice Adm. Linda Fagan is promoted to the rank of admiral during a ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters, June 18, 2021. US Coast Guard Photo

Adm. Linda Fagan is set to become the first female commandant of the Coast Guard after the Senate confirmed her appointment unanimously on Wednesday.

Fagan, who has been serving in the Coast Guard’s vice commandant since 2021, will replace Adm. Karl Schultz, who has served as commandant since June 2018 and is set to retire in May. As commandant, Fagan will be...

https://news.usni.org/2022/05/12/senate-approves-first-female-commandant-for-coast-guard

Biden Nominates Adm. Linda Fagan to Head Coast Guard, First Woman to Lead Military Service

Vice Adm. Linda Fagan is promoted to the rank of admiral during a ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters, June 18, 2021. US Coast Guard Photo

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Biden administration has nominated Adm. Linda Fagan to lead the U.S. Coast Guard, a defense official told USNI News on Tuesday. Fagan, currently the Coast Guard’s vice commandant, will be the first woman to lead a U.S. military service.

Fagan has been the Coast Guard’s number two since June and was the first woman in the service to...

https://news.usni.org/2022/04/05/biden-nominates-adm-linda-fagan-to-head-coast-guard-first-woman-to-lead-military-service

Coast Guard Weathering Cutter Production Delays as More Coasties Head to Sea

Adm. Karl Schultz, the commandant of the Coast Guard, speaks to attendees at the 2022 West conference in San Diego, Feb. 18, 2022. US Coast Guard Photo

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The top Coast Guard officer remains optimistic at the pace of expanding the fleet of cutters despite delays in design and construction that have pushed back the expected delivery date of the first new polar icebreaker.

“We pushed the delivery date into the spring of 2025. We were hoping for a ’24 date,” Coast Guard Commandant...

GAO Report on Coast Guard Defense Missions

The following is the Sept. 15, 2021, Government Accountability Office report Coast Guard: Information on Defense Readiness Mission Deployments, Expenses, and Funding.

From the report

One of the six armed forces, the U.S. Coast Guard is a multimission maritime military service within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is responsible for implementing 11 statutory missions. One mission—Defense Readiness—requires the Coast Guard to maintain the training and capability needed to integrate...

https://news.usni.org/2021/09/22/gao-report-on-coast-guard-defense-missions

White House Taps Vice Adm. Linda Fagan for Coast Guard Vice Commandant

Vice Adm. Linda Fagan, Pacific Area Commander, drops in on chief’s call with Pacific Area Command Master Chief Heath Jones aboard Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB-10) on Sept. 16, 2019. US Coast Guard Photo

The Biden administration has tapped Vice Adm. Linda Fagan to serve as the Coast Guard’s new vice commandant, a promotion that would make her the service’s first woman to receive four stars, the Coast Guard announced today.

In a release, the service said that Fagan, who leads Coast Guard...

https://news.usni.org/2021/04/19/white-house-taps-vice-adm-linda-fagan-for-coast-guard-vice-commandant

Coast Guard Icebreaker Polar Star Bound for the Arctic in December

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star breaks ice in McMurdo Sound near Antarctica on Jan. 13, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo

For the first time in almost five decades, the Coast Guard’s heavy icebreaker won’t be supporting Antarctic scientific missions in coming months but will operate instead the Arctic near Alaska, the ice breaker’s commander said recently.

USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) will deploy in December “to project [U.S.] sovereignty” over its waters off Alaska and “to strengthen the rules...

https://news.usni.org/2020/11/20/coast-guard-icebreaker-polar-star-bound-for-the-arctic-in-december

Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy Suffers Fire on Arctic Mission; All Arctic Operations Cancelled

Coast Guard Cutter Healy conducts their Arctic West Summer 2018 science mission with the northern lights visible above the ship while in the Arctic Ocean, Nov. 12, 2018. US Coast Guard Photo

A Coast Guard icebreaker is cutting short a research mission to the Arctic after suffering a fire while underway on Aug. 18, the Coast Guard announced on Tuesday.

Icebreaker USCGC Healy (WABG-20) is now steaming to Washington state to repair damage to the main propulsion system and all Coast Guard Arctic...

https://news.usni.org/2020/08/25/coast-guard-icebreaker-healy-suffers-fire-on-arctic-mission-all-arctic-operations-cancelled

GAO Testimony on Coast Guard Icebreaker Programs

The following is the Feb. 5, 2020 Government Accountability Office testimony before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security on the Coast Guard icebreaker programs.

From the report

What GAO Found

ln fiscal year 2012, the Coast Guard-the primary federal maritime agency in the Arctic-assessed its capability to perform its missions in the region and identified a number of capability gaps. These gaps, which still exist today, include communications,...

https://news.usni.org/2020/02/13/gao-testimony-on-coast-guard-icebreaker-programs

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