Posted on 19 January 2010 by Jim Dolbow | Comments

Last night, I participated in a Department of Defense’s  Bloggers Roundtable with Lieutenant General Ken Keen, commander of Joint Task Force Haiti.  My Q & A follows:
Q:  Can you tell us a little bit about the role of the Coast Guard in JTF Haiti?
A:  GEN. KEEN: Well, like all of our services, the Coast Guard [...]

Posted on 6 January 2010 by Jim Dolbow | Comments

The following warning that recently appeared in a British newspaper might have pertained to the Royal Navy but it could have been issued for the U.S. Coast Guard:
Warning over navy spending cuts:
THE future strength and structure of the Royal Navy must be driven by “operational need” and not the Treasury, a Westcountry defence expert [...]

Posted on 21 November 2009 by Jim Dolbow | Comments

Lyle Goldstein of The Jamestown Foundation writes in Chinese Coast Guard Development: Challenge and Opportunity:
China’s coast guard entities are rapidly expanding their capabilities and proficiency. The results are amply evident in the many rescues of both Chinese and also foreign nationals now occurring in the crowded sea lanes proximate to the Chinese coast. Whether or [...]

Posted on 1 June 2009 by Ryan Erickson | Comments

Talk about a historic port visit: AFRICOM.mil is reporting:
TUBRUQ, Libya, Jun 1, 2009 — U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell (WHEC 719) arrived in Tubruq, Libya on May 31, 2009 as part of a theater security cooperation mission to strengthen the maritime partnership between the United States and Libya.
Boutwell is the first U.S. military [...]

Posted on 25 February 2009 by Jim Dolbow | Comments

I recently asked CAPT Chuck Michel, Chief of the Office of Maritime and International Law, the following question via email after a recent DOD Bloggers Roundtable on the CG’s anti-piracy efforts:
Q: Is there a need for an International MOTR?
A: The Maritime Operational Threat Response (MOTR) Plan directs the establishment of an [...]

Posted on 24 February 2009 by Jim Dolbow | Comments

Over at my vacation home blog, USNI Blog, I had two posts here and here on the Coast Guard’s role in building legal capacity in Africa for maritime nations impacted by piracy.
My thanks to CAPT Chuck Michel, USCG, for his thorough response to my question which made both posts possible.

Posted on 16 February 2009 by Jim Dolbow | Comments

That is what Bangladesh’s Home Minister Sahara Khatun told an audience on 14 February 2009 in Dhaka on the 14th anniversary of the founding of the Bangladesh Coast Guard.

Hopefully the Bangladesh Coast Guard will achieve their goal of becoming a modern service well before the year 2213 (which coincidentally will be their 218th birthday).

Full [...]

Posted on 27 January 2009 by Jim Dolbow | Comments

Stephanie Hanson writes in a Combating Maritime Piracy Backgrounder for The Council on Foreign Relations that the establishment of a Somali Coast Guard is one of “a range of options exists for combating maritime piracy…” Moreover, according to Hanson,
Chatham House’s Middleton recommends creating an internationally administered coast guard for Somalia, run by the African [...]