{"id":53855,"date":"2019-10-31T08:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T08:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/31\/protect-pay-for-our-unsung-maritime-military-service-the-us-coast-guard\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:48:09","slug":"protect-pay-for-our-unsung-maritime-military-service-the-us-coast-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2019\/10\/31\/protect-pay-for-our-unsung-maritime-military-service-the-us-coast-guard\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect pay for our unsung maritime military service: the US Coast Guard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In January, Pinellas resident Chelsey Gutierrez, the wife of Coast Guardsman Chris Gutierrez, mother to two young boys, wrote me, sharing the pain the government shutdown had brought to their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike our sailors, soldiers, airmen, and marines, the entire United States Coast Guard was going without pay<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the first time in America\u2019s history we failed to pay military service members due to a government shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To bring attention to the increasingly desperate situation, I brought Chelsey as my guest to the State of the Union Address. Chelsey described being forced to beg creditors and utility companies just to keep the lights on, all while Chris was deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As governor and now as congressman, I have witnessed firsthand the impressive work the Coast Guard perform every day. Pinellas County is home to the nation\u2019s largest Coast Guard air station, in Clearwater, and sector St. Petersburg conducts the most search-and-rescue deployments in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USCG plays a vital role in protecting maritime commerce across the U.S. through security missions. They help facilitate over $4.6 trillion in economic activity accounting for 23 million jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, as the smallest military service \u2014 and the only one under the Department of Homeland Security \u2014 the Coast Guard is subject to greater budgetary risk than their fellow military branches.<\/p>\n\n\n\t