#HowWeServe

How We Serve CG

Mission Support Serves You

The Commandant highlighted several examples of why individuals serve in the United States Coast Guard during his 2020 State of the Coast Guard Address on February 20, 2020. The Mission Support organization strives to provide the assets, systems, and people these brave men and women need to do the mission. The below snapshots convey just a few of the many ways in which Mission Support professionals serve their colleagues, their Service, and their country every day.

The Coast Guard Mission Support principles of flexibility, responsiveness, resiliency, affordability, transparency, and integration remain constant. We continue to work to achieve our vision of sustained and adaptable readiness for Coast Guard missions through fully integrated support, innovative and forward-looking approaches to challenges, and by earning the trust of our operational partners through excellent customer service. Being Semper Paratus to deliver exceptional support well into the future is #HowWeServe.

Check out a listing of district-- by – district resources by clicking here.

Mission Support serves throughout the Coast Guard by...

District 1

Ensuring Mission Readiness

In January 2019, Base Cape Cod’s Facilities Engineering Department expended over 120 hours to remove snow and ice from AIRSTA Cape Cod’s airfield. Base Cape Cod provides snow removal during every winter event, as a Search and Rescue case can occur at a moment’s notice and requires a clear runway. In 2019 there were several life-saving SAR events in which icy conditions could have hindered the mission.

District 5

Providing Resources for the Coast Guard Family

The Community Services Command Coast Guard Exchange System recently opened a new location in Centerville, VA, serving Coast Guard families in and around the Base National Capital Region. The Mission Support organization is dedicated to supporting our workforce personally and professionally, including families and retirees.

District 7

Recruiting Experts in Their Fields

The Coast Guard is fortunate to have many world-class chefs serving as Culinary Specialists, sustaining the men and women of the Service with nutritious and delicious meals. Maintaining a steady flow of bright, motivated, and skilled recruits starts with exposure of men and women to careers in the Coast Guard. Shown here is a culinary demonstration by CSCM Justin Reed, Base Miami Beach Galley, to students at the Boynton Beach South Tech Academy in February of 2020.

District 8

Keeping People Safe

Coast Guard Health, Safety, Work-Life (HSWL) Service Center personnel worked with Federal partners at the Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport in February of 2020, screening passengers returning from China for potential exposure to the Coronavirus.

Supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Customs and Border Protection, HSWL Medical Teams deployed to Seattle, Detroit, and Dallas-Fort Worth, screening a total of 707 passengers during a 5 day period.

District 9

Maintaining Coast Guard Assets

Maintenance Augmentation Teams (MAT), part of the Naval Engineering Department at a Base, provide maintenance support and casualty response. MATs are responsible for tasks that go beyond the capacity or capability of a unit’s resources and require more extensive or specialized facilities, tools, equipment, or expertise. This type of maintenance is referred to as “depot-level” maintenance.

Shown here, MAT Sault Ste Marie members complete a quarterly maintenance visit on CGC NEAH BAY in Cleveland, OH in February of 2020.

District 11

Encouraging Innovation

The Coast Guard and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of San Diego launched the Blue Technology Center of Expertise (BTCOE) on the Scripps' campus in January of 2020.

Blue technology is any technology, system or platform designed for use above, on, or below the surface of the ocean that can support or facilitate Coast Guard maritime domain awareness, search and rescue, emergency response, maritime law enforcement, marine inspections and investigations.

The BTCOE will promote awareness within the Coast Guard of the range and diversity of blue technologies and their potential to enhance Coast Guard mission readiness and operational performance. The center is dedicated to keeping the Service continually renewed with updated tools and methods, and will be part of the Coast Guard’s ongoing Innovation Program.

District 13

Partnering with the Community

Finding affordable childcare can be an issue for many Coast Guard members. Sector North Bend resolved this issue by bolstering relationships with community partners and increasing the number of family childcare providers in base housing. Interested spouses were trained through Base Seattle Health Safety and Work-Life staff, and received Coast Guard certification to run in-home childcare.

Sector North Bend also reached out to the local community college, hospital, and area businesses whose community members faced similar struggles in finding childcare. While bases in metropolitan areas sometimes have access to government funded facilities such as Child Development Centers, units in remote areas can partner with their local community to pool their resources to help ensure childcare needs are met.

District 14

Honoring Those Who Came Before Us

Service members from Coast Guard District 14 participated in a repatriation ceremony for Lt. Thomas Crotty at U.S. Coast Guard Airsta Barbers Point. An Honor Platoon led by Rear Adm. Kevin Lunday, Commander, Coast Guard 14th District, transferred Lt. Crotty’s remains for transport to his hometown of Buffalo, New York.

Lt. Crotty served in the Philippines during the outbreak of World War II, was taken prisoner by the Japanese army, and passed away at a Prisoner of War camp in 1942. His remains were recently identified through the efforts of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

Every Base and Base Detachment has a Decedent Affairs Officer to serve as a subject matter expert for military personnel casualties and decedent affairs, including reimbursement of funeral expenses, transportation, and recovery of remains.

District 17

Ensuring Connectivity

These hard-working members at Base Ketchikan in Alaska are repairing a mast on a 110’ Patrol Boat. This repair will ensure the patrol boat has the connectivity it needs to conduct the mission.

Following a 5-year effort to increase salaries and eliminate a pay gap for wage grade members working throughout the state of Alaska, these workers received a pay increase, helping Coast Guard remain an employer of choice in a competitive labor market.