Coast Guard leader vows action in face of budget woes

From: Navy Times

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft is worried about the future of his service, not because of the quality of the people he commands, but because of continued budget uncertainty from lawmakers.

Zukunft delivered his first State of the Coast Guard address on Tuesday at headquarters in Washington, D.C., three days before its funding expires and 40,000 active duty members would be forced to work without pay; retiree pay would also be suspended.

"It is because of our people that the state of our Coast Guard is strong," he said. "But I am concerned. I'm concerned that aging platforms and crumbling infrastructure continue to hinder mission success."

Coast Guardsmen have excelled at keeping the service's medium endurance cutters up and running for more than half a century, while some shore infrastructure has reached the 100-year mark.

"We are conducting 21st century operations from veritable museums," he said.

The problem, Zukunft explained, is that over the past four years the service has lost 40 percent of its acquisition budget.

In terms of shore assets, that budget is down to $40 million a year toward $1.4 billion in needed improvements. He compared the situation to making minimum payments on a huge credit card bill, causing debt to grow faster than it can be paid off.

At the same time, he added, with the Arctic opening up and instability in South America contributing to the flow of illegal drugs and migrants toward the United States, the Coast Guard is just as busy as ever.

However, he said, he won't allow the imbalance to tank the service's readiness.

"Make no mistake; I will take decisive action to alleviate this strain," he said. "We will not do more with less. Those days are over."

Zukunft laid out ambitious plans to continue recapitalizing the cutter fleet, revitalize the Coast Guard's maritime safety and inspection systems, develop an Arctic strategy, completing a "human capital plan" to foster a 21st century workforce and working to drive sexual assault out of the force.

He boiled down his objectives in a post to the service's Compass blog on Tuesday, into six main goals:

1. Building a 21st century Coast Guard through investments in assets and workforce.
2. Defeating transnational organized crime through intelligence and persistent offshore presence.
3. Safeguarding maritime commerce through cybersecurity.
4. Operating in polar regions.
5. Maximizing investment with efficient business practices.
6. Driving out sexual assault with a culture of respect.

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2015/02/25/coast-guard-commandant-zukunft-budget-showdown/23982123/