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The Long Blue Line (Spring 2024)

United States Coast Guard quarterly magazine exploring all things Coast Guard.

United States Coast Guard quarterly magazine exploring all things Coast Guard.

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This is what we are known for. This is the<br />

Coast Guard people see every day protecting<br />

our economic prosperity and national<br />

security. This is the Coast Guard that is<br />

respected and admired around the world.<br />

I<br />

am honored to share the phenomenal work<br />

that our United States Coast Guard does<br />

every day, highlight the threats shaping<br />

the maritime domain, and advocate for the<br />

investments needed to ensure the Coast Guard<br />

remains Always Ready.<br />

A few weeks ago, you may have heard about the<br />

rescue of six people and two dogs off the coast of<br />

Washington State by a Coast Guard crew. Or you<br />

might have heard about a U.S. Coast Guard cutter<br />

operating as part of a task force that seized almost<br />

1,700 pounds of narcotics in the Arabian Sea, or<br />

the rescue of three boaters from a sinking vessel in<br />

the Virgin Islands.<br />

Last summer, when the community of Lahaina on<br />

Maui was devastated by a wildfire; Coast Guard<br />

crews braved heat and smoke to rescue people who<br />

fled to the ocean to escape the flames. Our boat<br />

crews do not train to respond to wildfires. But in that<br />

moment, they demonstrated our ethos to protect,<br />

defend, and save. <strong>The</strong>y selflessly put themselves<br />

in harm’s way so others might live.<br />

Last year, the United States Coast Guard saved<br />

nearly 5,000 lives and ensured the safety of<br />

thousands more through our operations to prevent<br />

maritime accidents before they happen.<br />

Additionally, our crews continued their work to<br />

deter maritime migration throughout the Pacific, the<br />

Caribbean, and the Straits of Florida by responding<br />

to large numbers of people taking to the sea on<br />

incredibly hazardous voyages.<br />

This is what we are known for. This is the Coast<br />

Guard people see every day protecting our<br />

economic prosperity and national security. This<br />

is the Coast Guard that is respected and admired<br />

around the world.<br />

We don’t do this work alone. <strong>The</strong> Coast Guard<br />

serves alongside the other operational components<br />

of the Department of Homeland Security to support<br />

the Secretary’s priorities including maritime<br />

THE LONG BLUE LINE SPRING <strong>2024</strong><br />

31

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