The Long Blue Line (Spring 2024)

We are prototyping unmanned systems in the air,
on the water, and even underwater to improve our
maritime domain awareness. The Coast Guard of
the future will increasingly rely on data, analytics,
and artificial intelligence to inform our missions.
We must get this right. Our Office of Data Analytics
continues to update processes to support our
modern workforce, assets, and operations.
These technologies represent force multipliers for
our Service, but our greatest effort is in strengthening
and supporting our workforce. We’ve transformed
our talent management system. Two years ago,
I highlighted the need to modernize the way we
recruit, train, deploy, and support our people.
Last year, I announced a Talent Management
Transformation Task Force. They hit the ground
running, challenged long-held assumptions, and are
writing new personnel policies that make it easier
to join and serve in the United States Coast Guard.
We have invested in recruiting, and we’re meeting
new recruits where they are. We now train newly
enlisted service-members in their technical specialty
by assessing the skills and abilities they already
have, and then create a customized curriculum.
This tailored approach is paying dividends. This
past year, 149 new Petty Officers graduated from
technical training 31% faster and reported to
frontline Coast Guard operations that much sooner.
We are moving away from a rigid, one-size-fitsall
system, to one that enables every individual to
perform to their full potential. It’s a generational
change in our approach to talent management.
Today, a well-trained and well-equipped workforce
is especially critical. Across the country and around
the world, demand for the Coast Guard is growing.
It’s easy to understand why. The U.S. Coast Guard is
the world’s premiere agency to help partner nations
build and sustain governance in their sovereign
waters. This year we continue to demonstrate our
Adm. Linda L. Fagan, commandant of the Coast Guard,
speaks to guests during the 2024 State of the Coast Guard
Address in Washington, D.C., March 20, 2024. The State
of the Coast Guard Address speaks to the vision for the
Service. (U. S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st
Class Brandon Giles)
unique capability for this work off the coast of Africa,
throughout the Pacific, and in the Arctic.
The Pacific region is home to more than half the
world’s people, and more than two-thirds of global
economic activity. The region is key to U.S. security,
and we are strengthening our presence there today.
We recently moved the Medium Endurance Cutter
Harriet Lane from the East Coast to a new home port
in Honolulu to enhance the Coast Guard’s ability to
strengthen maritime governance and achieve the
objectives of the United States Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Harriet Lane is making a difference today on her first
patrol in the South Pacific. Last month, the cutter
enacted our bilateral agreements with both Vanuatu
and Fiji, and embarked law enforcement officials
to conduct boardings of Chinese vessels fishing in
their sovereign waters. This work protects Pacific
nations’ sovereignty and upholds the international
rules-based order.
The Arctic is another region important to national
security. The United States seeks an Arctic region
that is peaceful, stable, and prosperous. The Coast
Guard contributes to that goal through enduring
presence in the high latitudes.
The Arctic is becoming
even more critical
as diminishing sea
ice opens new waters
to commercial and
military activity.
The Coast Guard
protects our national
sovereignty through
enduring presence in
the high latitudes.
THE LONG BLUE LINE SPRING 2024
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