Graduates from recruit company P-208 complete basic training at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J., April 10, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Danielle Layton)

Military.com reports,

The service landed 5,445 recruits in 2026, its most since 1987. Growth spiked 41% in 2024 but has since slowed to under 5%.

I already published the Coast Guard’s news release on this, but this report gives us more insight into what it took to recruit this many.

The rate of increase in recruiting has slowed. It looks like we may be approaching a limit with the current recruiting structure.

“Enlisted accessions grew by 1,296 in FY24, by 782 in FY25, and by 241 this year. That constitutes a decrease from 41% in FY24 to under 5% today.”

I did not always agree with Admiral Fagan, but the big jump in 2024 proves the steps she took to improve recruiting were certainly effective.

GAO found that the Coast Guard lost more enlisted members than it recruited every year, from 2019 through 2023.​

What changed? 

“The Government Accountability Office last year (May 14, 2025–Chuck) in its own review found that the service raised its maximum enlistment age from 34 to 41, lowered its minimum entrance test score, and loosened its debt limits for applicants.

“Enlistment bonuses now reach the statutory cap of $75,000, the marketing budget more than tripled from 2020 levels, and the recruiter force has been rebuilt to 500, nearly doubling its 2021 low.”

“The same review found that 82% of the recruits who joined in FY24 needed at least one waiver to enter the service, with medical waiver requests up nearly 280% over two years.”

The Coast Guard opened 7 new recruiting offices in FY25 located in:

• Miami, Florida
• Los Angeles, California
• Long Island, New York
• Austin, Texas
• Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Davenport, Iowa

Enlistment bonuses “...range from $2,000 for those with prior military service to $15,000 for those with 120 or more college credits. Those with specific training or skills may be eligible for bonuses up to $75,000.”

Officer accession:

Commissions fell from 371 in FY25 (101% of the overall goal) to 346 in FY2026—a roughly 7% decline and far short of the new goal of 500 per year—even as the service highlighted the total as one of its best ever.

The 15,000:

I keep seeing statements that the service will grow by 15,000. It’s not clear if that is 15,000 new billets or 15,000 more members than we had at the beginning of 2025. There have been no details. Now we know why there have been no details.

In June, GAO testified to House lawmakers that the Coast Guard “has not fully assessed its workforce needs” and lacked a fully defensible baseline for its planned expansion, noting that the service has completed formal manpower requirements determinations for “only about 26 percent of its total workforce.”

Sounds like maybe the 15,000 figure may have been a WAG. We definitely need more detail if we want 15,000 additional billets funded. We may also need to increase recruiting and retention further, particularly for officers.

If we could keep more people on after 20 years and end mandatory retirement without hurting promotion opportunities, it would certainly help. It might not cost any more, since their higher pay relative to more junior replacements, would be offset by the fact that they would not be collecting retired pay for doing nothing.

USCGC Munro (WMSL 755) transits in formation in the high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean alongside USCGC Storis (WAGB 21) and USCGC Fir (WLB 213) in support of Operation Tundra Merlin, July 21, 2026. The joint high‑latitude sail brought together three distinct cutter classes — a national security cutter, a medium‑endurance icebreaker and a seagoing buoy tender — demonstrating the Coast Guard’s versatile surface capabilities to safeguard national security and environmental stewardship in Arctic waters. (U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo.) Note, of the three ships, only Munro is armed with something more than a .50 caliber machine gun. 

Below is a District SW news release.

There are a couple of things that are noteworthy, first the length of this almost four month deployment and the fact that it included operation in the Arctic Ocean, both are departures from the ALPATSs I experienced and they indicate growing concern for US interest in the Arctic Ocean.

Notably the US Pacific Fleet does not send surface vessels into the Arctic Ocean. They seldom operate much North of the Aleutians.

Royal Canadian Navy HMCS Max Bernays (AOPV 432) patrols the Bering Strait during a combined sail with U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL 752) Aug. 11, as part of Operation TUNDRA MERLIN. This combined sail directly supports the Canadian Armed Forces core missions to detect, deter, and defend Canada against potential threats, while contributing to the security of the North American continent in partnership with the United States. (U.S. Coast Guard Courtesy photo)

The Canadian Navy vessel mentioned, HMCS Max Bernays (AOPV 432), is a DeWolf class Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS), a light icebreaker armed with a single 25mm Mk38 mount modified for the Arctic environment. She is one of six of this class in the Canadian Navy. Two of the class are being built for the Canadian Coast Guard.

I also love this accompanying photograph which shows an over-the-horizon boat (center) alongside a long range interceptor (right), the boat launching slip, and the over-the-horizon boats cradle (left).

A boarding team deployed from USCGC Munro (WMSL 755) returns aboard an over‑the‑horizon small boat following the completion of a living marine resources boarding in the Bering Sea, Aug. 25, 2026. After concluding its safety and compliance inspection aboard a commercial fishing vessel, the team navigated challenging Bering Sea conditions to rendezvous with the cutter, highlighting the coordination between the cutter, small‑boat crews and boarding personnel tasked with maintaining a regular law‑enforcement presence across Alaskan fisheries. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Andres Garcia Rodriguez)

Just wanted to point out some excellent work by one of our WPCs, USCGC Winslow Griesser, supported by Sector Staff and Air Station Miami HC-144s.

Nothing boost morale like staying busy.

“Coast Guard repatriates 63 aliens to Dominican Republic following unlawful voyage vessel interdiction”

“Coast Guard offloads $5.5 million in seized cocaine in San Juan, Puerto Rico”

Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser offloaded 489 pounds in seized cocaine and transferred custody of three suspects to Homeland Security Task Force San Juan law enforcement authorities at Coast Guard Base San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct. 19, 2026. The contraband seizure and apprehension followed the interdiction of a go-fast smuggling vessel in Atlantic waters off Puerto Rico, Oct. 10, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

NAVSTA Newport, RI

Below is a Coast Guard Headquarters news release.

The fact that the “Newport project includes a new pier to provide berthing for four major Coast Guard cutters” may indicate an intention to base more than the two OPCs we know about there in the future. After all we only know about planned homeports for six of 25 OPCs. The Navy currently has no surface vessels based on the East Coast North of the Norfolk/Little Creek complex.

Pensacola might also be a future OPC homeport. The Navy also has no surface ships based in the Gulf.

Philippine Coast Guard personnel conduct a maritime security exercise in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME

Below is a story from the Indo-Pacfic Defense Forum. I have reproduced it below in full. I don’t think they will mind.

Common procedures adopted by a large block nations will put pressure on China to adopt similar behavior. Improving the professionalism and interoperability of all Coast Guards is good move.

Sarah Chan

Southeast Asian coast guards are developing a shared legal foundation for enforcing maritime laws, including aligning rules of engagement, evidence-handling standards and prosecutorial procedures.

Central to the initiative is legal interoperability, which enables coast guards from different countries to gather evidence, conduct boardings and support prosecutions using common standards. “Legal interoperability among the coast guards of ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] member states will be a crucial aspect of the institutionalization of the ASEAN Coast Guard Forum [ACF],” Harshit Prajapati, a New Delhi-based defense analyst, told FORUM.

The ACF agreed in mid-2026 to seek permanent status as an entity of the 11-member regional bloc. Delegates finalized a concept paper and terms of reference to be considered at the ASEAN Summit in the Philippines in November 2026, laying the groundwork for deeper regional cooperation on maritime law enforcement.

Much of the enhanced interoperability will flow from an operational agreement to standardize how coast guards engage and de-escalate in contested waters such as the South China Sea. The Southeast Asia Protocol of Engagement at Sea for Coast Guard and Maritime Law Enforcement will govern ACF field operations and define the legal interoperability extended to member agencies.

Legal alignment will require addressing long-standing sovereignty issues, favoring approaches that strengthen interoperability while preserving national authority, Prajapati said.

“ASEAN states’ coast guards fall under the jurisdiction of different ministries, which is another challenge in institutionalizing the ACF,” he said, highlighting the importance of developing protocols to guide operationalization.

Training is advancing separately. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) Global Maritime Crime Programme conducts scenario-based legal exercises and simulated trials, including in Indonesia and Vietnam, to strengthen evidence handling and prosecutions. At a UNODC-supported facility in Batam, Indonesia, maritime officers from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam trained in visit, board, search and seizure procedures, including evidence collection. UNODC programs also address chain of custody and data reliability, which can bolster cross-jurisdictional investigations.

Additionally, a proposed maritime security academy between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea would provide regional training and expert exchanges.

Information sharing among partners is critical to deterring illicit maritime activity by state and nonstate actors and to upholding international norms.

In late 2025, for example, the Philippine Coast Guard used Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection program to flag a Chinese research vessel inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The Coast Guard deployed an aircraft to determine whether the vessel was conducting unauthorized marine research.

Sarah Chan is a FORUM contributor reporting from Singapore.

Join the discussion

How do your maritime forces work with Allies and Partners to counter illegal incursions and transnational crime?

The Chinese research vessel Xue Long transits the United States’ exclusive economic zone and over the U.S.’s extended continental shelf in the Bering Sea in July 2026. U.S. COAST GUARD

(Note: U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) was officially renamed back to the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) on June 16–17, 2026.)

The Pacific Area’s Indo-Pacific Defense Forum reports,

The United States Coast Guard tracked four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) research vessels in international waters off Alaska in September 2026 amid indications that Beijing is increasing its Arctic presence. In 2025, five CCP ships conducted work in the region, according to U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Bob Little, who commands the service’s Arctic District.

“Where I have responsibility, interest and concern is when they are operating in and around U.S. sovereign space,” Little told the Reuters news agency during a visit to Oslo, Norway, to speak at an Arctic security conference. “So inside of our exclusive economic zones or over our extended continental shelf, we certainly have a security concern.”

These vessels may be doing mapping and research for the Chinese Navy but as long as they stay out of the 12 mile territorial sea while they are doing it, it is all quite legal, even if it is in the US EEZ or over the extended continental shelf. That is not likely to change since we want to do similar research just outside China and Russia’s territorial sea.

A concern might be if we have sensors or other infrastructure on the sea floor and they attempt to damage or tap into it. 

Over the long term, China argues that the Arctic Ocean and its high seas constitute a “global commons” and the common heritage of all mankind, rather than the exclusive domain of the eight Arctic Council nations. I don’t see the US disputing that as long as they recognize Exclusive Economic Zones and extended continental shelves, but as you can see below, that leaves relatively little unclaimed area and what there is can be difficult to access. (Claims to extended continental shelf, which would further restrict exploitation, are still largely unsettled.)

Arctic Exclusive Economic Zones (This does not include claims to extended continental shelf.)

Rajah Sulayman-class OPV BRP Rajah Sulayman (PS-20) 19 January 2026, Philippine Navy photo

Army Recognition reports the launch of the third of six new Korean built Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Philippine Navy.

These may be important ships in the Philippine’s ongoing disagreement with China. Since these look an awful lot like Coast Guard cutters, thought I would provide some description. Wikipedia has more complete information.

Note that the first of class was laid down 5 February 2025 and commissioned 24 February 2026. The ship was built in less than a year. The second of class was commissioned 9 June, 2026.

• Length: 94.5 m (310 ft 0 in)
• Beam: 14.3 m (46 ft 11 in)
• Draft: 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in)
• Speed: 22 knots
• Range: 5500 nautical miles at 15 knots
• Complement: 72
• 1 × 76mm Oto Melara Super Rapidmain gun
• 2 × 30mm Aselsan SMASH 200/30RCWS secondary guns
• 2 × 12.7mm heavy machine guns

Wikipedia notes,

GeoSpectrum Technologies Inc. of Canada was selected by Hyundai Heavy Industries to supply three (3) units of its TRAPS (“Towed Reelable Active Passive Sonar”) towed-array sonar system as part of the weapons and sensor systems acquisition project of the Philippine Navy for the Rajah Sulayman-class offshore patrol vessels.

Her length reminds me of my first ship, USCGC McCullough (WHEC-386), a “311” about the same size. When I was on her, she a 5″/38, two M32 triple torpedo tubes, Hedgehogs, and a hull mounted sonar. And of course we had a much larger crew.

Defense News reports, “What is the US Army doing in Panama? A bit of everything.”

If Army can be there, maybe Coast Guard could be too. Latin America finds Coast Guard white hulls less offensive than USN gray hulls. It looks like the Coast Guard already has good relations with their Panamanian counterparts.

If we could put a PATFORSWA like squadron of six Webber class WPCs based at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal it would make drug interdiction in the Eastern Pacific a lot easier, and they would be in position to help defend the canal from unconventional attacks.

They might be the first place we should put counter-UxS systems on WPCs. (I think we may have already done that on the cutters that were assigned to PATFORSWA, but we can do better.)

(We might sweeten the deal by making it a joint US/Panamanian squadron by gifting three of the six ships to Panama.)

(Costa Rica might be an alternative. Good relations between the USCG and Costa  Rican CG for decades.)

Xue Long 2 on sea trials. Photo by PRIC.

CIMSEC has an article that might serve as a brief overview of some of the innovative Gray Zone activities being done by the Chinese (and the Russians). Among these are anchor drags and use of UUV.

These activities are not limited to areas inside the first island chain and include Arctic and US waters.

Textron Systems’ TSUNAMI 25 uncrewed surface vessel will support U.S. Navy Fourth Fleet and SOUTHCOM trials in Key West, combining high-speed maritime surveillance, autonomous interdiction support, and potential precision armament for counter-drug and littoral security missions (Picture source: U.S. DoW).

If you are regular reader here you know I am a fan of APKWS, the (Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System). Thousands are being made. It is light, cheap, accurate, and easy to use, but effective against unmanned air and surface systems and able to actually hurt a ship at a range of more than 5,000 yards (some sources say 10 kM).

I have been hoping the Navy would develop a maritime surface launcher that would become common enough to be added to Coast Guard cutters. We are not there yet, but it looks like they may be getting close.

The photo above is from a “Seapower” article reporting experiments with unmanned surface craft in 4th Fleet. (More here)

The video above is also a Navy program.

The Army is also getting this system. (More here.)

Interestingly the CROWS II remote weapon station used in the EAGLS system was in service with the Coast Guard at least as early as 2009 (Photo below).

Maybe if the Coast Guard specifically asked for this capability on all their WPCs (or all their cutters), it might help to move things along.

KEYPORT, Wash. (Aug. 18, 2009) U. S. Coast Guardsmen man the rails as the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox (WPB 87374) is brought to life at Naval Base Kitsap. (U.S. Navy photo Ray Narimatsu/Released) On the bow is a CROWS II remote weapon station.