Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft noted in 2014 that his service is facing immediate demand for increased organizational presence in the U.S. maritime Arctic to address the search-and-rescue and environmental stewardship missions.' As the Coast Guard steps up this presence in the Arctic, potentially reactivating legacy assets such as the USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-ll) or designing and building entirely new classes of cutters, it remains to be seen how the service will adequately staff them with experienced ice navigators.
展开▼