By Calvin Biesecker
The Coast Guard cannot afford to back off from funding its recapitalization needs and, if necessary, will have to accept more risks to its operations in the face of flat budgets ahead, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen said yesterday.
“We can’t stop the recapitalization of the Coast Guard,” Allen said at the annual Surface Navy Association Symposium in Arlington, Va. “Our cutters are too old.”
Allen’s comments precede the release early next month of the Obama administration’s FY ’11 federal budget request. The Department of Homeland Security has already said to expect real declines in spending beginning in FY ’11 (Defense Daily, Nov. 20, 2009).
Allen acknowledged that “money is going to be tight.” While he declined to discuss budget specifics, he said he has recommended that the recapitalization of Coast Guard assets must move forward. He noted that two of the services fleet of 12 High Endurance Cutters, the Dallas and Gallatin, are currently out of commission for safety and structural repairs.
“We can’t replace them soon enough,” Allen said.
The Coast Guard has made significant progress in terms of acquisition the past four years, such as bolstering its own capabilities to manage programs and move ahead on key projects such as the National Security Cutter. The service is about to lay the keel on the first in a new class of patrol boats, the Fast Response Cutter, he said.
“We have to keep moving forward, we can’t stop,” Allen said. “If that means we have to take a larger risk position in terms of operations, I’m willing to do that. And the American public needs to understand that we’re going to have to have some time and space to build out new platforms, invest to replace our aging platforms and for a while there if we have to make a choice between pure operations and the risk associated with that, that is less risk in creating a hollow force and having a fleet that is collapsing on itself.”
DHS is currently implementing an array of efficiency initiatives to save money that can be put toward priority needs ahead of the budget slow down. Allen said that increased efficiencies are one way to maintain sufficient funding for its recapitalization efforts. He mentioned the Coast Guard’s strong partnership with the Navy, such as joint boarding teams and Coast Guard law enforcement detachments aboard Navy vessels, as examples of how his service can better leverage limited resources.
Allen also said that a decision needs to be made soon on the future of the Coast Guard’s icebreaker fleet. Two of the three ships are over 30 years old and have about seven to 10 years left in them. One of the ships is dry-docked and Congress recently provided funding to reactivate the Polar Sea and extend its life for seven to 10 years (Defense Daily, Nov. 23, 2009).
Allen said the United States is “on the cusp of making a decision” on the future of its ice breaking fleet, “and that can’t happen soon enough for me.” The reason for the urgency is because it will take seven to 10 years to build new ice breakers, he said.