The United States Coast Guard and National Defense

In addition to port security, ship inspection and safety, law enforcement, and search and rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard assumes an important role in national defense at home and abroad. To that end, the Coast Guard has carried out separate and coordinated missions with other armed forces from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, and North Polar region. This chronicle of the Coast Guard’s contributions to national defense examines participation in World War I, World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, and the War on Terror. Among the topics explored are defense threats, drug trafficking, and border security, as well as Coast Guard personnel, training, leadership, and assets.

A member of the United States Coast Guard Reserve from 1961 to 1969, Thomas P. Ostrom taught anthropology, geography, and history at Rochester Community College in Minnesota before retiring. He is a member of the U.S. Life-Saving Service Heritage Association, U.S. Navy Memorial, Foundation for Coast Guard History, and Naval Historical Foundation.

Thomas P. Ostrom
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 277
Bibliographic Info: 24 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6480-7
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8855-1
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      ix
Foreword by Commander Gary M. Thomas, USCG      1
Preface      3
Introduction      5

1. The Coast Guard: 1790 to World War I      11
2. World War II on Land, Sea and Air      20
3. Korea: The Forgotten Cold War Conflict      32
4. The Cold War from America to Vietnam      42
5. Logistics and Tactics in Indochina      54
6. Cold War, Terror and Interdiction      65
7. National Defense on the Great Lakes      85
8. Natural Disasters and the War on Terror      101
9. Coast Guard Aviation and National Defense      117
10. Homeland Security      128
11. The Coast Guard in Kosovo, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf      138
12. Port Security, Pirates and Commandos      150
13. Budgets, Assets, Missions and Training      164
14. The Arctic and National Security      173
15. The Coast Guard Heritage      181

Appendix A: Team Coast Guard and Commandants to 1990      191
Appendix B: Team Coast Guard and Commandants, 1990 to 2010      203
Appendix C: Always Ready: Coast Guard Personnel      219
Chapter Notes      229
Bibliography      244
Index      255

“a solid overview of this often-overlooked service. Recommended”—Choice; “an outstanding reference for those who are unfamiliar with the many roles of the Coast Guard”—Nautical Research Journal; “Professor Ostrom does it again. Coast Guard History buffs will enjoy his latest book, a much-needed contribution to the field…the book should be required reading for everyone who wears a Coast Guard uniform”—Proceedings.