Building a U.S. Coast Guard for the 21st Century - Center for ...

Coast Guard recapitalization
When Adm. Thad Allen became the 23rd Commandant of the Coast Guard in
2006, like his immediate predecessors over the past decade he ordered the service to
undertake a major review of the need to modernize the Coast Guard’s aging fleet and
the need to create an acquisition directorate to be able to manage major acquisition
programs in order to become the Coast Guard’s own lead systems integrator. (The
review also encompassed restructuring the way the service went about organizing
and deploying its forces, a subject that will be discussed in the following section).
The overall framework for the program was issued in 10 Commandant Intent Action
Orders released in 2006. Coast Guard leadership then consolidated the 10 Action
Orders into five interdependent Modernization Efforts after realizing that the 10
orders could not be implemented independently of one another.
The recapitalization portion of this plan incorporated
the service’s massive (then) four-year-old asset
modernization program, known as Deepwater, and
also sought to overhaul its beleaguered acquisition
and financial management system.
It was an ambitious plan for a service that had seen
the scope of its responsibilities increase considerably
since 2001. Lessons learned in the Coast
Guard’s response to September 11 and Hurricane
Katrina gave new impetus to the modernization
plan. These operations “highlighted the need for
enhanced standardization across the service and
more centralized logistics and asset management,” 57
another centerpiece of the modernization program.
Ultimately, the service saw the program as a means
to enhance overall Coast Guard performance,
improve coordination, and continue its tradition of
adaptability in order to carry out its traditional and
homeland security duties.
Coast Guard Adm. thad Allen, 2006.
Source: AP Photo/Nicole LaCour Young
29 Center for American Progress | Building a U.S. Coast Guard for the 21st Century