By Andrew Jarocki
Surprised by the arrival of a heavily armed American vessel, Chinese boats surreptitiously fishing for squid near Ecuador this past summer fled in a panic. Meanwhile, Nigerian sailors received American training on combating piracy and an American cutter seized millions of dollars’ worth of heroin from a smuggler in the Gulf of Oman.
A busy summer for the U.S. Navy? No. The U.S. Marine Corps at work? Nope.
The U.S. Coast Guard is increasingly operating far from American coasts and undertaking missions quite different from more well-known ones like rescuing swimmers or aiding in ecological disasters. The “Coasties” are pushing hard to be seen as a tool for confronting geopolitical rivals and accomplishing foreign policy objectives in any waters of the planet.
A globe-trotting USCG is dangerous for both foreign and domestic reasons. Internationally, the use of the Coast Guard in areas distant from American coasts and lacking obvious American sovereignty interests risks needless tension and establishes an undesirable precedent.
At home, allowing the Guard to justify larger budget requests by expanding its mission further encourages military branches to inflate threats or invent questionable new missions in the fierce competition for funding.
This piece was originally published in Stars and Stripes on December 12, 2022. Read more HERE.