Above is a US Naval Institute interview with the winner of both the first and third place winner of the Institute’s Coast Guard essay contest.

A lot of the discussion is about why the Coast Guard should establish a Coast Guard Yard, West, at Mare Island (Subject of the first place winning essay), but he goes on to advocate improving the military readiness of Coast Guard cutters and explains the Coast Guard’s relationship with the Navy.

This year’s Coast Guard issue was particularly good. We did have some discussion of it earlier. The two essays written by LCdr Blevins are linked below.

• Reclaim Mare Island as an NSC Center of Excellence
• Build Future Frigate Lethality on Coast Guard Cutters Now