VISION TO REALITY
Critical decisions confront the Coast Guard as it prepares for a new century of service to America. Coast Guard 2020 provides the vision and framework to make the hard decisions necessary to ensure that the Coast Guard remains ready for today’s missions and tasks, even as the Service plans for tomorrow’s requirements and operations. Coast Guard 2020 is the cornerstone of the Service’s strategic planning and budgeting process, and it will mold the Coast Guard’s Capital Acquisition Plan. Most fundamentally, Coast Guard 2020 p rovides the foundation for programs to attract, train, and retain highly skilled and motivated people, and to design, acquire, and maintain modern cutters, aircraft, and systems – which will sustain necessary capabilities and competencies. In the final analysis, however, it will be the Coast Guard’s men and women – shaped by professionalism, leadership, and selfless humanitarian service – who will transform this vision into reality.
Capabilities
To meet requirements in the 21st century, Coast Guard units must operate as a highly mobile, flexible system that responds to mission priorities based on extensive use of information, intelligence, and communications. Unlike the ad hoc mix of aging assets in use today, some of which date back to World War II, 21st century systems – aircraft, cutters, boats, stations, and command centers – must be integrated to meet mission requirements. Satellites and sensors will provide real-time information allowing total visibility in maritime regions. Vessel and harbor networks, command centers, and communications systems will contribute to a world-class waterways management system under Coast Guard leadership.
Current acquisition programs for buoy tenders, motor lifeboats, and patrol boats will fulfill nearly all coastal and inland capabilities anticipated in the first two decades of the 21st century. A replacement for the mainstay of Coast Guard small boat stations, the utility boat, will be essential, and specialized boats suited for emerging missions must be identified and procured.
A new "Deepwater" system of cutters, aircraft, and C4ISR will replace the current fleet of high- and medium-endurance cutters and their associated aircraft, sensors, and command and control systems. "Deepwater" is a unique system acquisition that will provide 21st century capabilities specifically tailored for demanding operations beyond 50 miles offshore and will enhance operations with smaller Coast Guard units in coastal areas. It will be totally compatible with Department of Defense architectures and will result in a significantly more efficient and effective mix of Coast Guard assets explicitly designed to operate seamlessly together.
Equal in importance to the Service ’s seagoing and aviation assets is a new generation of information systems that will link operational assets with their support lifeline. The Integrated Logistics Support System (ILSS) will be innovative and will "benchmark" best commercial practices for preventive maintenance and repairs, workforce planning and training, supply, inventory control, and shore support. This new ILSS is essential to realize the vision of meeting increasing demand for services. The personnel system alone must achieve a just-in-time capability for providing qualified, trained people on efficiently manned cutters, aircraft, and stations.
As the Department of Defense continues to reshape its strategies for regional conflicts and small-scale contingencies, and to downsize its forces, the Coast Guard will be prepared to assume important defense and national security missions. Elements of the Defense Department’s detection and monitoring tasks in support of maritime law enforcement will require additional Coast Guard maritime patrol aircraft and shipboard surveillance systems. Additionally, the Coast Guard’s envisioned system of cutters, aircraft, and C4ISR will have key capabilities for low-threat conflict environments, but will also be able to operate in direct support of the Unified Commanders’ warfighting needs.
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Created: August
1998