The Coast Guard The Coast Guard is unique in that it combines military, law enforcement, humanitarian, and regulatory functions under a single organization that serves under the Department of Homeland Security. Despite reporting to the Department of Homeland Security, Title 14 stipulates that the Coast Guard is a military service and Coast Guard ships are US warships. It is the only armed service that draws its authority from Title 14 of the US Code rather than Title 10 and is the only service exempt from the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from acting as law enforcement agents within the United States. On a day-to-day basis, most Coast Guard activities involve maritime safety or maritime security in US territorial waters. These operations include missions such as search and rescue, patrolling US inland waterways and the coastline, regulating recreational and commercial maritime activities, investigating maritime accidents, and enforcing maritime laws. The Coast Guard has the authority to board, search, or seize any vessel under US jurisdiction. Coast Guard forces are equipped with armed small patrol craft and ocean-going cutters. Aviation assets included both fixed-wing long-range patrol aircraft and utility helicopters used for a variety of missions, from short-range …show more content…
For example, Air Force doctrine opines that “it does not matter if an F-16 or a B-52 accomplishes a given task, or whether a particular platform is manned or unmanned, or whether a C-17 or a C-130 delivers a certain load; the outcome of the mission, the effect achieved, is what’s important.” Deciding which effects need to be achieved and coordinating the employment of airpower to achieve those effects, however, is the single most difficult challenge in air and space