The Coast Guard Intelligence Program Enters the Intelligence Community

Although the United States Coast Guard has utilized intelligence capabilities since the service's inception in 1790, the Coast Guard was not included as a formal member of the Intelligence Community until December 2002. From the days of Revenue Cutter Captains walking the docks, to its pioneering use of signals intelligence during prohibition, and with today's use of national technical means, many Coast Guard successes rely on intelligence. As a regulatory entity, a law enforcement agency, a military service, and as the premier domestic maritime agency, every day the Coast Guard executes a very broad area of mission responsibility. Prior to 2002, the Coast Guard contributed to and benefitted from Intelligence Community analysis as a customer. However, increasing transnational threats such as drug smuggling, weapons proliferation, and illegal migration, some involving or supporting terrorist organizations, accentuated the need for and the benefit of Coast Guard membership within the Intelligence Community. The author describes the story behind the short but significant amendment to the National Security Act of 1947 which resulted in the Coast Guard's formal entry into the Intelligence Community. Researched within eighteen months of passage, this case study exhaustively documents extensive congressional and Coast Guard staff work. Interviews at the action officer level clearly reveal the view from the bureaucratic trenches, and additional attention to talking points, meeting minutes, and email summaries add immediacy as they further clarify positions from within departments, staffs and agencies. A brief examination of the surrounding political and geopolitical events, such as the bombing of the USS Cole, political changes in Congress, internal Coast Guard actions, and the tragic attacks of September 11th, provide context to the passage of this provision. As a member of the Intelligence Community, the Coast Guard has succeeded in combining law enforcement and intelligence contributions not only to be always ready to respond to all threats and all hazards, but as a model for the post-September 11th world of intelligence.