Thursday
Feb252010
Projected Personnel Loss For Coast Guard Attributed To Decommissioning Of Vessels
Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 2:17PM
By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that the Coast Guard’s personnel cut outlined in the 2011 budget request will be the result of decommissioning four antiquated vessels.
“I have been on Coast Guard vessels from Charleston to Kuwait. The vessels are antiquated, they are old. Our service men and women should not have to work in these surroundings,” said Napolitano during an appearance before the House Appropriations Committee.
The budget request for fiscal year 2011 supplies $1.4 billion for recapitalization.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that the Coast Guard’s personnel cut outlined in the 2011 budget request will be the result of decommissioning four antiquated vessels.
“I have been on Coast Guard vessels from Charleston to Kuwait. The vessels are antiquated, they are old. Our service men and women should not have to work in these surroundings,” said Napolitano during an appearance before the House Appropriations Committee.
The budget request for fiscal year 2011 supplies $1.4 billion for recapitalization.
Reader Comments (2)
The do more with less philosophy has been preached since the Revenue Cutter days. This is the only agency that practices this and gets 50+ years out of its asetts. While every other agency continuous to ramp up with new toys. Then Congress tears the brass a new one when they cannot get the job done. This has got to stop. There should be a capital replacement budget & every time a new cutter is comissioned, its replacement should be budgeted for. If one of those 378's does the Titanic in the Bearing sea no politician will stick up for the CG. Get someone with ballsto fight as hard for the Coast Guard as they are fighting for healthcare. Coast Guard healthcare could be defined as new assets
The Coast Guard is a very wasteful organization. I was on a 2 month patrol and we did one boarding, and 3 days on a sar case. We only did that cause we were close. It was 2 months of training and floating around. There is a new station that cost $17 mil for 70 people, and only 45 are permanently stationed there. Stations are expending large amounts of money for Homeland security patrols. these places that are being patrolled are minimum, and that is an understatement, security risk locations. Someone could audit hours, supplies, travel, etc. and would definitely be able to trim the budget without having a RIF. Let's get an audit going so some jobs can be saved.