The Coast Guard organizational structure can be a bit confusing. Now, with all the social media sites, it can be even more challenging to know where to go for official information. This post will break down the internal structure and provide links to the various official social media sites.
The general “pecking order” is from Headquarters to Area to District to Sector to operational commands. Cutters 175-feet or longer report to the appropriate Area command, cutters over 65-feet but under 175-feet report to the appropriate District, and cutters 65-feet and under report to the appropriate Sector. This is definitely not a perfect rule, but it works in most situations. To keep things simple, we will break it down to the District level.
If the site it not listed here, it is either not an official site or I don’t know about it. I am not including Auxiliary units at this point to keep the content manageable and avoid further confusion. For a great resource listing all social media sites within the Department of Homeland Security and its component agencies, click here.
Feel free to comment and ask questions if you think I missed something.
Service (Headquarters level)
- The Coast Guard Compass blog
- Coast Guard Compass Twitter
- USCG Twitter
- USCG YouTube channel
- USCG Flickr
- U.S. Coast Guard Facebook page
- USCG Press Flickr
- Coast Guard All Hands blog
- USCG TRACEN Cape May blog
- National Strike Force blog
- USCG Pay and Personnel Center blog
- USCG Mission Support Log blog
- USCG Academy Admissions YouTube channel
- USCG Academy Alumni Association Facebook page
- USCG Recruiting YouTube channel
- USCG CIO’s Office Flickr
Atlantic Area (Portsmouth, Virginia)
Pacific Area (Alameda, California)
- iFORCECOM blog
- FORCECOM blog, Blue Water Journal
- FORCECOM Twitter
- FORCECOM Public Affairs Twitter
- Deployable Operations Group (DOG) YouTube Channel
- Deployable Operations Group (DOG) Facebook page
- CGC Healy Twitter
- USCGC Boutwell Twitter
District 1 – Coast Guard District One
- USCG New York City Facebook page
- USCG New York City Twitter
- USCGC Penobscot Bay Facebook page
- USCG New England Twitter
District 5 – Coast Guard District Five
- USCG D5 Public Affairs Facebook page
- USCG District Five Public Affairs Flickr
- USCG District Five Twitter
District 7 – Coast Guard District Seven
District 8 – Coast Guard District Eight
- USCG District Eight blog, The Heartland Guardian
- USCG District Eight YouTube channel
- Sector Mobile Flickr
District 9 – Coast Guard District Nine
- USCG District Nine blog, Your Great Lakes Coast Guard
- USCG District Nine YouTube channel
- USCG District Nine Flickr
District 11 – Coast Guard District Eleven
District 13 – Coast Guard District Thirteen
- USCG District Thirteen blog, USCG Pacific Northwest
- USCG District Thirteen YouTube channel
- USCG District Thirteen Flickr
- USCG District Thirteen Twitter
District 14 – Coast Guard District Fourteen
- USCG District Fourteen YouTube channel
- USCG District Fourteen Facebook page
- USCG District Fourteen Twitter
District 17 – Coast Guard District Seventeen
General Maritime Information
- Coast Guard Marine Safety blog
- AMVER blog
- AMVER Facebook page
- AMVER Twitter
- On Scene – Journal of USCG Search and Rescue blog
- National Maritime Security Advisors Committee blog
- Americas Waterway Watch Facebook page
- Americas Waterway Watch Twitter
- Boating Campaign Twitter
Just in case you were wondering why these Districts are unevenly numbered, we used to have a District 2, 3, 4, 6, and so on. Over the years, as we continually improve operations and modernize to better serve the public, we have consolidated Districts.
Check out my cool video of a Coast Guard craft shadowing the Staten Island Ferry.
Here is the video:
Here is the blog post about the video:
http://baldpunk.com/2009/07/30/ferry-boat-ride/
And thanks for helping protect NYC!!!
Coast Guard rocks!
Bald Punk