Present Era

Background: Cocaine is made from the leaves of the Coca plant. After the leaves are harvested and soaked, the base for the powdered drug is extracted and the resulting crystallized substance is dried into bricks. In 1980 Cocaine was not yet on the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) radar screen. The emphasis was on heroin. This … Read more

As early as 2013 the Coast Guard recognized that the legacy processors in its fixed wing aircraft assets would be unable to run the updated systems needed for optimal mission execution. After careful consideration, the Minotaur mission system architecture was chosen to upgrade and replace the legacy systems. Minotaur integrates sensors; radar; command, control, communications, … Read more

The U. S. Coast Guard awarded a potential $117.2 million contract to Boeing’s Insitu subsidiary to provide contractor owned and operated small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) aboard its fleet of National Security Cutters (NSC). Challenged with policing a vast six million square-mile maritime area to disrupt and deter the flow of illegal drugs and undocumented migrants … Read more

A decision was made by President Clinton in 1993 to adopt a source country policy designed to help producing countries build interdiction forces. The focus was on the drug crops, the kingpins and their organization, and the production and trafficking networks of Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. The adoption of the Source Country Strategy was not … Read more

The Coast Guard acquired through an intra-service transfer, 14 C-27J Spartans that the U.S. Air Force planned to place in storage. The aircraft was manufactured by Leonardo’s Aircraft Division (formerly Alenia Aermacchi until 2016). The transfer was authorized in the fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill. As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY 2014, … Read more

On April 20, 2010 an explosion and subsequent fire occurred on the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig. It caused the rig to burn and sink resulting in a massive oil spill. What was initially a rescue operation became what is now considered to be the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. The unit was operating … Read more

A massive earthquake struck Haiti just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12, about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital. The quake was the worst in the region in more than 200 years. The first responder was the US Coast Guard Cutter Forward, with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter on board. The Forward arrived … Read more

CL-327 Operating From USCGC Thetis Today’s Unmanned Aerial  Vehicles (UAVs) owe much to the design of the cruise missiles that were used in World War II by the US and British forces. At the close of World War II, Chance Vought Aircraft, a company with no missile experience, was contracted to further develop the concept.  … Read more

Coast Guard Aviation Logistics center On October 30, 2008, the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard recognized the evolution of the former Aircraft Repair and Supply Center into The Aviation Logistics Center. This event also marked the formal recognition of the implementation of the Coast Guard’s first Mission Support Center and celebrated the attainment of … Read more

Satellite measurements of Arctic sea ice extent reveal a rapid decline over the past 30 years, particularly at the end of each year’s annual melt season. As the Arctic warms, the volume of ice in the region gradually declines; making it less likely ice will survive more than one year and thus exposing more open water at the end … Read more