NavyRecognition has a report on a new ships under construction, the Project 23700 rescue support ship Voyevoda.  You might assume a rescue vessel would be built for their Coast Guard, but this was ordered by Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry and will be operated by the Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot)

The Project 23700 ship Voyevoda is designed to support rescue operations and transport and supply small search and rescue craft. The ship can carry four boats and two helicopters. The vessel has a displacement of 7,500 tons, a length of 111 meters, a width of 24 meters, a speed of 22 knots and endurance of 5,000 miles.

gCaptain reports the Commandant’s book recommendations for 2017.

They previously reported his recommendations for 2016.

Following is a press release quoted in full:

NEW LONDON, CONN. – The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is preparing to host President Donald J. Trump, who is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at graduation on Wednesday May 17, following a White House announcement earlier today.

The135th Commencement Exercises are scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. on Cadet Memorial Field.

“Every commencement is a special occasion, but it is particularly memorable when the President presents our future leaders with their commissions,” said Academy Superintendent Rear Adm. James E. Rendon. “We are also grateful for the opportunity to highlight our Academy and our mission to develop leaders of character for the Coast Guard and the nation.”

The President traditionally addresses the graduating class at one of the federal service academies on a rotating basis. President Obama came to the Academy in 2015. This will be the first time President Trump addresses a federal service academy graduating class as Commander in Chief.

The event is not open to the public. Inclement weather plans call for the graduation to be held in Leamy Hall Auditorium, where seating will be limited.

The Commandant resently completed the 2017 State of the Coast Guard address. You can watch it here. You can read the text in pdf format here.

The Small Wars Journal has an article, “Maritime Civil Affairs” by Paul W. Taylor, decrying the Navy’s failure to adequately provide for Maritime Civil Affairs.

He describes this mission as follows:

“Those military operations that enhance the relationship between military forces and civil authorities in localities where maritime forces are present; require interaction and consultation with other maritime interagency, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organizations; indigenous maritime populations and institutions; and the maritime private sector; and which involve application of maritime functional skills to problems that normally are the responsibility of civil government to enhance the conduct of civil-military operations.”

And he sees the requisite skill set as:

• Protection of the maritime environment;
• Operation and maintenance of ports, harbors and waterways;
• Governance of maritime environments, industry, and resources; and
• Maritime law enforcement, security, and safety, including migration control.

First, I am not surprised the Navy has had a hard time filling this role, and second, this sound a whole lot like Coast Guard missions.

The blog has encountered some techical difficulties recently. At least in some cases photos have overlapped the text.

I have informed tech support at WordPress and hopefully a fix is in the works.

As a bandaid solution, I am adding a few extra line spaces below any photo in hopes of showing all the text.

The February issue of the US Naval Institute Proceedings has three articles of particular interest to the Coast Guard. Two are available to non-members

• “Shift the Coast Guard to the DOD,” by Jim Dolbow and Captain Jim Howe, USCG (ret.)
• “America’s Arctic Imperative,” by former Commandant, Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr. (ret.)

The third is behind the membership firewall.

“The Coast Guard Needs More Than Another Icebreaker,” by LCdr. Shawn Lansing, USCG

Recently Proceedings has added a new feature, “World’s Coast Guard” again by Jim Dolbow. The February issue looks at the revival of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard. This is also behind the membership firewall.

(Jim Dolbow is a Coast Guard reservist and was editor of the Coast Guardsman’s Manual, 10th edition, published by the Naval Institute Press. On a personal note, he also encouraged me to get into blogging.)