In the early 1990s, the U.S. Coast Guard shifted away from homeland defense and redoubled its law enforcement efforts, eliminating all but a minimal self-defense capability from its major cutter fleet. At the same time, the U.S. Navy, adjusting to the new world order, reduced the size of its fleet. Over the past two decades, however, the naval threat has returned and, with it, the need to reconstitute a national fleet capable of projecting power both far overseas and close to U.S. shores.
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