Can the Coast Guard get deployed?

[TNDemo]

My nephew is wanting to join. I would think not but then again the reserves used to be just for the homeland too.

[Cat Atomic]

1. You betcha. I believe there's still a sizeable Coast Guard force in

the Persian Gulf right now, guarding ports and such. Previous to this Iraq assignment, I think the last time they were in a combat zone was Vietnam.

[Oreo]

2. Absolutely

I'm sure they can get called to fight.

Iraq
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/coastguard/a/uscgwar.htm
The U.S. Coast Guard is an active player in the war on terror, both in Southwest Asia and on the home front, according to Adm. Thomas H. Collins, commandant of the Coast Guard.

Collins said the "fifth armed service," and the only one to fall under the Department of Homeland Security, is making its largest commitment to port- security operations since World War II. At the same time, the Coast Guard has deployed its largest contingent of Coast Guard members and assets overseas since the Vietnam conflict, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

At the height of the conflict, Collins said the Coast Guard deployed 1,200 men and women, 11 ships and a port-security unit to the theater to conduct maritime-interception operations and coastal-security patrols. The port- security unit and five — soon to be six — patrol boats remain on duty in the northern Arabian Gulf, where they work closely with the Navy and Marine Corps under the command of U.S Naval Forces Central Command

Vietnam
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/h_tulichvietnam.html

WWII
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0071424016/002-1684204-9952801?v=glance

"An exquisitely researched, thoroughly absorbing history of the Coast Guard's role in the greatest sea battle ever fought."—Stephen Coonts, bestselling author of the Jake Grafton series

"Bloodstained Sea is one of the most riveting accounts of naval combat history I've seen, and a valuable reference for any military and naval enthusiast."—Vince Patton, Master Chief Petty Officer, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.)

In November 1941, America was not yet officially at war. Nevertheless, under orders from President Roosevelt, sailors of the U.S. Coast Guard painted their gleaming white cutters battleship gray and steamed into action against the menacing U-boats of the Third Reich. Bloodstained Sea recounts how, over the next four years, these men—normally dedicated to saving lives and rescuing ships in distress—would be locked in one of the longest and bloodiest running sea battles in history.

Americans called it Torpedo Junction; to the Germans, it was Devil's Gorge. By any name, the North Atlantic of the early 1940s was one of the most dangerous fronts in a catastrophic war. Called upon in desperate times, seven of the Coast Guard's finest ships—the sleek, efficient, tough 327-foot Secretary Class cutters—plied these unforgiving waters to protect convoys of troops and much-needed supplies.

[Redneck Socialist]

6. That's what my dad did in WWII

He was a coastie and spent the war patrolling the Atlantic coast looking for U-Boats.

I'm going to have to get a copy of that book. Thanks for pointing it out.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[newyawker99]

11. Hi Mout!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Frederic Bastiat]

4. Aren't they under the auspicies of the DHS now?

Who's guarding the "homeland" should they be deployable?

[Doohickie]

5. A guy I know signed up for the Coast Guard during WWII so he wouldn't

be sent far from home. He ended up crossing the Pasific several (in excess of a dozen) times. And yes, he saw action.

Chances are less that the CG will see heavy action than other branches, but don't rule it out.

[babylonsister]

7. My nephew did join the CG

He's done his basic training, fixing helicopters. Now he's stationed at an air station in Elizabeth City, NC. I think there's less chance of Coasties being deployed than other service members, but it does depend on what you're trained for. I know some have already been/are in Iraq (I believe only seamen, not airmen) and Coasties did go to Vietnam. And yes, the CG is now supposedly instrumental in homeland security.

[Estel]

8. Didn't Rummy say he wouldn't use them

in combat zones because they aren't "real military"??? Pissed some "folks" off.

[billyoc]

9. The US Coast Guard has had 1 fatality in this war already.

https://www.piersystem.com/external/index.cfm?cid=651&fuseaction=EXTERNAL.docview&documentID=37752

[TNDemo]

10. Thanks everyone.

I passed the info along to my brother, who is retired reserves and was not aware of it. He is a mindless right winger but I think at least has some sense when it comes to his own kid. He said he would pass that info along to his son and hoped it would dissuade him instead of inspire him.