Spotlight On The Coast Guard: Our Annual Look At The ‘White Hull’ Service

By Bill Hamblet

August 2021

As my understanding of our “white-hull” brethren has grown, my respect and admiration for them has deepened.

CEO Notes

By Vice Admiral Peter H. Daly, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2021

The Naval Institute’s open forum, conferences and events, news coverage, and professional books are here to support Coast Guard professionals in their careers.

Comment & Discussion

August 2021

Readers react to articles on navigation, armoring surface combatants, Admiral Spruance, and more.

The Hamiltons’ Second Life

By Lieutenant Commander Karen Kutkiewicz, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

The Coast Guard’s 378-foot cutters have all finally retired, but they continue to serve.

Unmanned Systems Go Vertical

By Brian O'Rourke

August 2021

Details begin to emerge on the V-BAT 128 unmanned aerial system.

Fast Response Cutters

August 2021

Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PatForSWA) in Bahrain have received the first two of six planned U.S. Coast Guard fast response cutters.

Military Leadership Requires Good Citizenship

By Lieutenant Colonel Dillon Fishman, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve

August 2021

The military has a sacred obligation to care for the young men and women who pledge their lives in service to the nation, including preparing them to return to society.

Bring ASW Back to the Coast Guard

By Commander Neal A. Corbin, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

The best counter to a reemergent Russia and rising China is a strong integrated naval force, ready for operations in the world’s oceans.

Want Better Mental Health in the Fleet? An App Might Be the Answer

By Ensign Jada Rivera, U.S. Navy Reserve

August 2021

The Navy should consider developing an application that would allow sailors to access counseling on their smartphones when ashore or in port.

‘Collar Check’ Culture Holds Us Back

By Petty Officer First Class Corinne L. Zilnicki, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

The collar check aids Coast Guardsmen in correctly addressing one another, but it can have problematic, long-lasting implications.

The Case for Alliance

By Michael Romero

August 2021

Anyone with a passion for Revolutionary War naval history should join in advocating for the next USS Alliance.

Sea Duty: Still Wanna Do It?

By Commander Craig H. Allen Jr., U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

With fewer Coast Guardsmen choosing to go to sea, the cutter fleet is facing rough waters.

The Path to a Data-Driven Coast Guard

By Lieutenant (junior grade) Evan Twarog and Lieutenants Joseph Kidwell and Caleb James, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

Coast Guard Essay Contest—Second Prize, Sponsored by the U.S. Naval Institute. Integrated data-management systems will empower Coast Guardsmen to better and more efficiently do their jobs.

Send the Coast Guard into the Cold

By Lieutenant Commander David Zwirblis, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

Coast Guard Essay Contest—Third Prize, Sponsored by U.S. Naval Institute. The United States needs an Arctic Command to protect its polar interests, and a Coast Guard admiral should lead it.

Coast Guard Must Embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution

By Lieutenant Commander Krystyn Pecora, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

The service must reimagine how the entire array of technologies can work together to transform its processes and its workforce.

Maritime Solutions to Continental Conundrums

By S. C. M. Paine

August 2021

A maritime global order gives navies an enormous peacetime role.

American Sea Power Dialogue

August 2021

Strategic Failures Are Often Failures of Imagination Dr. Schake’s essay contains two basic propositions. The first is her argument that the U.S. and Japanese navies in the years after the ...

Time to Reevaluate Strategic Habits

By Commander Charles Eaton, U.S. Navy

August 2021

The Sea Services must reevaluate their structures and processes with an eye toward great power competition.

Don’t Believe Your Eyes

By Lieutenant Colonel Justin Hauffe, U.S. Air Force

August 2021

To defend against deepfakes, the military must attack the means and protect the ends.

Improve Cybersecurity for Information System Defense

By Captain Will McGee, U.S. Marine Corps

August 2021

Information Warfare Essay Contest—Third Prize, Sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton. Information warfare will play a role in the next conflict, and the Navy needs more secure systems.

The Challenges of Single-Helicopter Detachments

By Lieutenant Abby Bohlin, U.S. Navy

August 2021

There is no excuse for one of the Navy’s most capable maritime assets to be sidelined or degraded for two-thirds of a deployment.

In Urban Combat, the Team is the Network

By Major Benjamin Duval, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve

August 2021

Networked UGVs acting in concert with humans and other machines will be a formidable force on the battlefield.

Innovating and Teaming to Expand Ship-Repair Capacity

By Commander David J. Kowalczyk, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

The Coast Guard, Navy, and other government agencies need to find ways within fixed budgets to ensure access to affordable repairs.

Close the Door On Gender Barriers

By Major Brian Kerg, U.S. Marine Corps

August 2021

To build an organization primed to win, the military must retain, promote, and select its top performers for the most demanding assignments.

Book Reviews

August 2021

Experts review Unsinkable, To Rule Eurasia's Waves, and other new and noteworthy books.

From Our Archive

August 2021

U.S. Coast Guardsmen conduct a rigid lifeboat drill.

The Navy Gets a Software Factory

By Edward Walsh

August 2021

The Navy recently established what it calls a “software factory ecosystem”—dubbed “the Forge”—a physical site for an effort that also will be virtual, engaging numerous contractors.

Protecting Europe’s Troubled Seas

By Sebastian Bruns and Senior Captain Frank Rogatty, German Federal Police

August 2021

The German Coast Guard has a significant role to play in 21st-century maritime security operations, in the Baltic and North Seas or wherever the political will mandates.

Nothing Illusory about Command of the Seas

By Norman Friedman

August 2021

An article in the June Proceedings misinterprets both Alfred Thayer Mahan and the wider issue of how sea power can or should affect events on land.

Germany’s Newest Offshore Patrol Vessels

By Eric Wertheim

August 2021

The Potsdam class is expected to operate primarily in the North and Baltic Seas conducting border patrol and security operations.

Splashdown!

By A. Denis Clift

August 2021

NASA safety specialist Dennis Chamberland explained the initial requirements for space exploration in these edited excerpts of his January 1989 Proceedings article, “Splashdown!”

In Their Own Words: O. Jay Tomson and Marti Tomson Rodamaker

August 2021

A family reflects on the Naval Institute's impact on three generations of their family, and affirms their support of its mission.

Asked & Answered

August 2021

The U.S. Lighthouse Service was merged into the Coast Guard in 1939. How many lighthouses have you visited, and which is your favorite?

Diversity as a Matter of the Heart

By José B. González, Ph.D. 

August 2021

The Coast Guard Academy’s Cultural Perspectives Courses allow cadets learn about diversity in new ways.

What Did the Thresher Disaster Court of Inquiry Find?

By Captain Jim Bryant, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2021

Some tentative conclusions from the Navy’s release of more than 1,000 pages of Thresher records.

Contested Logistics: Look to the Illicit Drug Trade

By Captain Walker D. Mills, U.S. Marine Corps

August 2021

The Navy and Marine Corps will need new logistics modalities to support distributed operations in contested environments. The illegal drug trade offers three key lessons.

Charting a Course to Inclusion

By Lieutenant Angel Kwok, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

To create a lasting cultural shift that embraces inclusion, the Sea Services must embrace gender neutrality.

A Change in Construct for a Changing Climate

By Lieutenant Commander Theodore Warren, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

The Coast Guard’s force planning construct is being stretched by climate change. It needs updating.

Restore MAVNI for Legal Aliens to Enter the Military

By Commander (select) Collin Fox, U.S. Navy

August 2021

Regaining the ability to recruit non-citizens with language skills and globally diverse lived experiences would allow the Sea Services to build a deeper bench of expertise.

Change the Surface Navy’s Maintenance Philosophy

By Commander Isaac Harris, U.S. Navy

August 2021

After two decades of consuming service life through abnormally high operational tempo and deferred maintenance, the Navy’s current maintenance philosophy will not recoup the material condition lost.

Needed Now: Victory at Sea—the Sequel

By Commander John T. Kuehn, U.S. Navy (Retired)

August 2021

The United States has a sea power deficit. This has happened before, and sea power advocates should look to past efforts to build popular support for a larger U.S. Navy.

Sea Mines: The Low-End Threat in the High-End Fight

By Lieutenant Robert “OG” Swain and Lieutenant Commander Ryan Easton, U.S. Navy   

August 2021

The Navy must determine if its current and developing mine countermeasures systems, force structure, and strategy will be adequate to mitigate the future threat.

The Frazier Effect in the South China Sea: Illuminate the Gray Zone

By Lieutenant Commander Andrew Mueller, U.S. Navy

August 2021

Video Is a powerful tool to push back against aggression.

Watching the Fall of Kabul: A GWOT Veteran’s Perspective

By Lieutenant Commander John Vick, U.S. Navy

August 2021

The Global War on Terrorism quite unexpectedly defined my adult life and watching the fall of Kabul for the past week has been painful.

Adapting Together: A Unified View of Distributed Operations

By Captain Andrew Y. Foltermann, U.S. Air Force

August 2021

Absent a joint framework for distributed operations, the services have focused on their individual priorities. The Department of Defense needs a unified vision for operating in a contested distributed environment.

Primetime for the LCS in the Near-Peer Littorals

By Commander Terry McKearney, U.S. Navy (Retired) 

August 2021

The LCS is finally ready for the littoral fights for which it was always intended.

The Caspian Flotilla: Russia’s Offensive Reinvention

By Midshipman First Class Benoit Gorgemans, U.S. Navy

August 2021

The Russian Navy has transformed its Caspian Flotilla to provide far-reaching striking power.

Let the Coast Guard Show Its Stripes

By Commander Jennifer Runion, U.S. Coast Guard

August 2021

To maximize the Coast Guard’s global effectiveness, don’t make it a second Navy.

Achieving Mission Alignment in Naval Aviation

By Vice Admiral Dean Peters, U.S. Navy

August 2021

For the past three years, Naval Air Systems Command has been undergoing changes aimed at delivering new aircraft and weapons to the fleet faster and at lower cost.