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Vol. 55, Issue 3-2008 - U.S. Coast Guard

Vol. 55, Issue 3-2008 - U.S. Coast Guard

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O N D E C K<br />

USCGR’s Vital Role: Home and Abroad<br />

As I sit and write this article,<br />

the 67th birthday — Feb. 19,<br />

<strong>2008</strong> — of the United States<br />

<strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Guard</strong> Reserve is fading fast in<br />

life’s rear view mirror. ADM Russell<br />

Waesche’s foresight in creating the<br />

<strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Guard</strong> Reserve less than a year<br />

before the attack on Pearl Harbor<br />

played a significant role in the <strong>Coast</strong><br />

<strong>Guard</strong>’s ability to rapidly expand into<br />

a 160,000-member force multiplier for<br />

the Navy. During World War II, five<br />

out of every six <strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Guard</strong>smen<br />

were reservists manning 30 destroyer<br />

escorts, 75 frigates, 750 cutters, 290<br />

Navy and 2<strong>55</strong> Army vessels. On the<br />

home front, thousands of <strong>Coast</strong><br />

<strong>Guard</strong> reservists, along side their<br />

active duty counterparts, protected<br />

vital ports and waterways and<br />

patrolled miles of coastline in search<br />

of potential saboteurs and enemy<br />

agents.<br />

Today, more than six years into the<br />

Global War of Terrorism, reservists<br />

carry on the proud legacy of the<br />

Waesche-era <strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Guard</strong> Reserve.<br />

Reservists serve in places like<br />

Bagdad, Iraq, the Kuwait Naval<br />

Base, Charleston, S.C., Bangor, Wash.<br />

and lots of places in-between. In fact,<br />

hundreds of you and your shipmates<br />

are standing the watch as you thumb<br />

through this issue of The Reservist.<br />

Thousands more of you have already<br />

answered the call or are in the<br />

process of preparing for a future<br />

mobilization. And, while our Reserve<br />

workforce is significantly smaller<br />

than our first-generation ancestors,<br />

have no doubt as to the vital role each<br />

of you plays in mission execution both<br />

here at home and overseas.<br />

Take, for example, the recent<br />

milestone reached by Sector<br />

Charleston’s Military Outload (MOL)<br />

Section. On Feb. 1 of this year, the<br />

MOL Section, which is staffed<br />

completely by reservists, completed<br />

five consecutive years of support to<br />

the Department of Defense’s (DoD)<br />

strategic sealift operations. During<br />

that time, the MOL Section flawlessly<br />

completed hundreds of security escort<br />

and security zone sorties amassing an<br />

impressive 30,760 hours underway.<br />

All this was done around the clock in<br />

all types of weather conditions and in<br />

the typically quiet and professional<br />

<strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Guard</strong> manner. When you are<br />

talking about the safe and secure<br />

movement of military munitions and<br />

hardware, quiet is exactly what you<br />

want.<br />

The missions executed by the MOL<br />

Section in Charleston are<br />

representative of similar efforts by<br />

countless other USCG personnel in<br />

dozens of U.S. ports. Since 2002, both<br />

active and reserve personnel have<br />

provided ongoing safety and security<br />

for over 100 Military Sealift<br />

Command ships as they moved over<br />

six billion square feet of military<br />

essential materiel from U.S. ports in<br />

support of DoD operations overseas.<br />

In the Pacific Northwest, the<br />

Maritime Force Protection Unit<br />

(MFPU) based in Bangor, Wash. (a<br />

second is located at King’s Bay, Ga.)<br />

provides security escorts for over $60<br />

billion worth of Navy assets. Both the<br />

Bangor and King’s Bay units were<br />

originally stood up with USCGR<br />

volunteers and continue to operate<br />

with a heavy reliance on reserve<br />

personnel.<br />

These are but a few examples<br />

focusing on “high-profile” Reserve<br />

mission execution. In addition to<br />

these efforts, there are hundreds, if<br />

not thousands, of <strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Guard</strong><br />

Reservists making monthly, weekly<br />

and daily contributions to the<br />

execution of <strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Guard</strong> missions,<br />

from performing a ports, waterways<br />

and coastal security patrol in LA/LB<br />

to honing rate-related skills while<br />

working on a piece of unit electronics.<br />

Whatever the flavor of duty — IDT,<br />

AT, ADSW — the knowledge and<br />

experience gained through these<br />

types of competency-based<br />

professional development will ensure<br />

the United States <strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Guard</strong><br />

continues to have the ready, reliable<br />

and relevant Reserve workforce ADM<br />

Waesche so wisely created nearly<br />

seven decades ago.<br />

Happy belated birthday wishes<br />

and Bravo Zulu to all!<br />

By<br />

MCPO-CGRF<br />

Jeffrey D. Smith, USCGR<br />

Master Chief Petty Officer<br />

of the <strong>Coast</strong> <strong>Guard</strong><br />

Reserve Force<br />

Jeffrey.D.Smith@uscg.mil<br />

“Thousands more of<br />

you have already<br />

answered the call or<br />

are in the process of<br />

preparing for a future<br />

mobilization. And,<br />

while our Reserve<br />

workforce is<br />

significantly smaller<br />

than our firstgeneration<br />

ancestors,<br />

have no doubt as to<br />

the vital role each of<br />

you plays in mission<br />

execution both here<br />

at home and<br />

overseas.”<br />

USCG RESERVIST • <strong>Vol</strong>. <strong>55</strong>/<strong>Issue</strong> 3-08 • 39

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