The official blog of the U.S. Coast Guard
The Coast Guard continues to celebrate the legacy of its formative services and the heroism of those who served. Our missions may have changed over the years, but one thing has remained constant: the selfless service of each and every person that takes the oath to protect their country as part of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Each and every day, the Coast Guard combats the illicit drug trade in a six-million square mile area, including the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Pacific. In addition to deterrence, Coast Guard drug interdiction accounts for nearly 52% of all U.S. government seizures of cocaine each year.
As the Nation’s environmental and Homeland Security priorities continue to evolve, the Coast Guard’s living marine resources mission will continue to evolve in order to meet shifting demands. Throughout all the changes, however, one thing will remain certain: the Coast Guard will remain ‘Semper Paratus’ to ensure safety, security and stewardship- protecting life, not only at sea, but within the sea as well.
In the U.S. Coast Guard, the responsibility to safeguard life at sea falls heavily on the shoulders of those who operate within the marine safety mission. This mission does this by striving to prevent maritime incidents through regulation and inspections of commercial vessels and by conducting thorough investigations when accidents do occur.
The genesis of the Coast Guard’s ports, waterways and coastal security, or PWCS, mission dates back to 1888 when its predecessor agency, the Revenue Cutter Service, was tasked with the movement and anchorage of vessels in New York.