Push begins to make Coasties part of the Pentagon<\/i><\/b>
“The Coast Guard buys boats just like the Navy and aircraft and equipment just like any of the military services,” he pointed out. “The whole acquisition process would become more efficient.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Homeland Security, Kasper noted, simply doesn\u2019t do major acquisition programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We\u2019ve been working hard with the Coast Guard to accelerate the icebreaker schedule,” Kasper said. “DHS doesn\u2019t have experience here and can\u2019t get the job done. But the Navy does.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hunter also is looking to weaponized some Coast Guard ships to supplement Navy missions, particularly the big, frigate-sized National Security Cutters and slightly smaller Offshore Patrol Cutters. Despite the Coast Guard\u2019s navigational, lifesaving and law enforcement duties, Kasper said, Hunter feels the service would benefit from the military association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Even if the Coast Guard would stay where it is, now is the time to make sure the Coast Guard is viewed not just as an extension of US law enforcement but also as a military service,” Kasper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We\u2019re trying to instill some courage in the Coast Guard,” he added. “They\u2019re taking on a bigger role, doing more things. We\u2019re talking about the Arctic, about inland waterways. Until you ask for it, it is going to be increasingly difficult for us on the Hill to sound the need. There is no confusion around the Navy\u2019s fleet size, there\u2019s good awareness on where the Navy needs to be. The Navy knows how to play this game, to advocate for its needs.\u00a0 Until you start getting out in front and making the case for where you need to be and not worrying about the effect on your budget, you\u2019re never going to get what you need.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kasper said a response to the unfunded requirement list is expected within a week or two.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If one California congressman has his way, the U.S. Coast Guard will begin asking for what it needs to grow into a more effective force and begin building a fleet of six Arctic icebreakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":66684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":[],"primary_category":""},"7":{"categories":["news"],"primary_category":"news"}}},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1026],"class_list":["post-30927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-naval"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YIQNCOBYRJGGXPNZVSHO5NJUNA","arc_canonical_url":"\/naval\/2017\/02\/13\/us-coast-guard-urged-to-step-up-requirements\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n