Wallace Boston » Pentagon http://wallyboston.com Communicating about higher education issues. Wed, 23 May 2012 12:48:59 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 An Apology to the Coast Guard http://wallyboston.com/2010/01/11/an-apology-to-the-coast-guard/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-apology-to-the-coast-guard http://wallyboston.com/2010/01/11/an-apology-to-the-coast-guard/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:41:28 +0000 Wally Boston http://wallyboston.com/?p=685 For a number of years, we have printed a calendar for our students serving in the armed forces.  In previous years, the theme for the pictures was “Our Athletes Don’t Play Games” with pictures of service members provided by the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.  This year, we altered the theme to “A University of Heroes.”  Somehow in the changing of the theme and printing format, our marketing department left out the Coast Guard.  This was an inadvertent, but unfortunate error and we are reprinting the calendar.  The Coast Guard is the only branch of the Armed Services that resides outside of the Pentagon although it reports to the U.S. Navy in times of war or at the direction of the President.  There are approximately 40,000 men and women who serve on active duty with the Coast Guard.   For a short history of the Coast Guard, please see my birthday greeting article.

Meanwhile, students, alumni, and friends who are members of the Coast Guard, please accept my apologies.  Please also accept my sincere thanks for the many efforts that you engage in daily to keep our nation’s ports and waterways safe for all.

]]> http://wallyboston.com/2010/01/11/an-apology-to-the-coast-guard/feed/ 1 Happy Birthday to the U.S. Coast Guard http://wallyboston.com/2008/08/04/happy-birthday-to-the-us-coast-guard/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=happy-birthday-to-the-us-coast-guard http://wallyboston.com/2008/08/04/happy-birthday-to-the-us-coast-guard/#comments Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:10:56 +0000 Wally Boston http://wallyboston.com/?p=158 On August 4, 1790, Congress authorized the construction of ten vessels to “enforce tariff and trade laws and to prevent smuggling.”  Organized as the Revenue Cutter Service, the Coast Guard is the oldest continuous seagoing service in the United States.  In 1915, the Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the U.S. Life-Saving Service to become the modern Coast Guard.  In 1939, the Lighthouse Service was transferred to the Coast Guard and in 1946, the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation was transferred to the Coast Guard.  In 2003, the U.S.C.G. was made a division of the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

The Coast Guard’s effort was extraordinary after Hurricane Katrina.  After that storm, the Coast Guard evacuated or rescued over 33,000 people, almost six times as many as in all of 2004.   According to the Coast Guard, on an average day it “saves 14 lives, assists 98 people in distress, conducts 74 search and rescue cases, interdicts 17 illegal migrants at sea, and seizes or removes over 1,000 pounds of illegal drugs.”  As a boater and someone who has sailed from Annapolis, Maryland to Bermuda, knowing that the Coast Guard is available and capable should a disaster occur is comforting.

The Coast Guard is the only branch of the Armed Services that resides outside of the Pentagon although it reports to the U.S. Navy in times of war or at the direction of the President.  There are approximately 40,000 men and women who serve on active duty with the Coast Guard.  Coasties, some of whom are our students, today we salute you and congratulate you on your 218th birthday!

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