Increase combatant naval forces by being armedt o c a r r y o u t c o nvo y, a n t i a i r c r a f t , o rantisubmarine dutiesIn wartime or a national emergency short of war,our government can get much-needed ships to performmerchant marine tasks from several sources. Thesesources include merchant ships flying the U.S. flag or aforeign flag, the National Defense Reserve Fleet, andthe Military Sealift Command (MSC).REVIEW 3 QUESTIONSQ1. Describe the peacetime mission of the U.S.Merchant Marines.Q2. List the wartime mission of the U.S. MerchantMarines.a.b.c.d.THE U.S. COAST GUARDRESPONSIBILITY IN SEA POWERLearning Objective: When you finish this chapter, youwill be able to—Identify the missions and functions of the U.S.Coast Guard in wartime and peacetime.The multimission nature of the Coast Guard makesit unique among the armed services of the United States.It has an operational peacetime role and is the only U.S.military service outside the Department of Defense.The Coast Guard is the nation’s oldest continuousseagoing service. It was set up in 1790 as the UnitedStates Revenue Marine (later renamed the RevenueCutter Service). The United States Revenue Marine wasan arm of the Treasury Department, under thenSecretary Alexander Hamilton. The Revenue Marinewas primarily a law enforcement agency. Itsresponsibility was to collect custom duties from shipsentering United States waters.Although the original role of the service was lawenforcement, revenue cutters took part in almost everyc o n f l i c t i nvo l v i n g t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . T h e s einvolvements showed the military readiness of theservice.In the mid-1800s, Congress set up the U.S.Lifesaving Service, consisting of stations scatteredalong U.S. coasts. Shortly after the turn of the century,the Lifesaving Service and the Revenue Cutter Servicemerged to form the U.S. Coast Guard. That mergerprovided the Coast Guard with its traditionalimage—the lifesavers.In 1939, the Coast Guard joined the LighthouseService and assumed responsibility for setting up andmaintaining aids to navigation in U.S. waters. Thatresponsibility has grown to such an extent that today theCoast Guard maintains nearly 50,000 navigational aids,including worldwide electronic navigation systems.PEACETIME MISSIONThe modern-day mission of the Coast Guard is aninteresting mixture of duties, including the following:Enforcement of maritime laws and treatiesSearch and rescue operationsEnforcement of U.S. drug and contraband lawsInstallation and maintenance of aids tonavigationIcebreaking operations that keep commercialvessel traffic moving in domestic waters andsupport scientific research in the Arctic andAntarcticaAs the primary maritime law enforcement agencyof the United States, the Coast Guard enforces thefollowing maritime regulatory laws:20-10Student Notes:
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