U.S. Coast Guard's Ports, Waterways and Coastal Security Strategy Deployment Plan: An Operational Design for Maritime Homeland Security

摘要

Homeland Security is perhaps the toughest issue that America faces today. It encompasses almost every aspect of American way of life. With the stakes so high, it is the major focus of a host of military and civilian agencies tasked with keeping America safe and secure. The U.S. Coast Guard, as the lead federal agency for Maritime Homeland Security (MHLS), is tasked with bolstering and ensuring the safety and security of one of America's most vulnerable terrorism targets the Marine Transportation System and associated marine critical infrastructure. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has made great strides in securing America's Mantime Domain. They have developed Strategic Guidance, made progress in executing security programs as mandated by Congress, and spearheaded international efforts to set standards for port security. However, there is currently no official cohesive operational design for executing the MHLS mission. To bridge this gap, the Coast Guard has drafted the Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security Strategy Deployment Plan (PWCS). This plan is the basis for an overarching operational architecture to implement and achieve the Coast Guard's MHLS objectives, essentially, a plan to create an operational design for MHLS. This paper will distill from the draft document, what the MHLS operational plan is. A critical analysis will then show that the PWCS, while an excellent start to the development of an Operational Design, is in need of further revision in the areas of Desired End-State and overall Command and Control (C2) of the MHLS operation.