Legislature(2017 - 2018)GRUENBERG 120
02/22/2018 01:00 PM House MILITARY & VETERANS' AFFAIRS
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| Presentation: 151 Year History of the United States Coast Guard in Alaska | |
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AND VETERANS' AFFAIRS
February 22, 2018
1:07 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Chris Tuck, Chair
Representative Gabrielle LeDoux, Vice Chair
Representative Justin Parish
Representative Ivy Spohnholz
Representative George Rauscher
Representative Lora Reinbold
Representative Dan Saddler
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: 151 YEAR HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
IN ALASKA
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
GENE WHITE
Representing Self
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented a PowerPoint of "151 Year History
of the United States Coast Guard in Alaska".
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:07:41 PM
VICE CHAIR GABRIELLE LEDOUX called the House Special Committee
on Military and Veterans' Affairs meeting to order at 1:07 p.m.
Representatives Saddler, Reinbold, Sponholz, Parish, Rauscher,
and Ledoux were present at the call to order. Representative
Tuck arrived as the meeting was in progress.
^Presentation: 151 Year History of the United States Coast Guard
in Alaska
Presentation: 151 Year History of the
United States Coast Guard in Alaska
1:08:00 PM
VICE CHAIR LEDOUX announced that the only order of business
would be a presentation titled, "151 Year History of the United
States Coast Guard in Alaska."
1:08:26 PM
GENE WHITE, Representing Self, advised that he has had a long-
standing interest in the history of Alaska and the United States
Coast Guard, it basically came together in this presentation,
and he served for four years in the U.S. Coast Guard many years
ago. He turned to slides 2-3 and pointed to the five branches
of the U.S. Military, of which there are a total of seven
uniformed services including military and non-military. The
definition of the National and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
and the United State Public Health Service, under 10 U.S. Code
Section 101(a)(5)(B&C), is described as uniformed services. The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was
created in 1807, originally it was the U.S. Coast and Geodetic
Survey.
1:10:54 PM
The committee took a brief at ease.
1:11:11 PM
CHAIR TUCK brought the committee back to order and asked Mr.
White to continue his presentation.
1:11:15 PM
MR. WHITE reiterated that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's (NOAA) predecessor was created in 1807, as the
U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. The U.S. Coast and Geodetic
Survey performed a lot of the mapping for navigation around the
coastlines. He turned to slides 4-5 and advised that NOAA has
commissioned officers and their uniforms are U.S. Navy uniforms
with NOAA insignia. The U.S. Public Health Service was created
in 1798, under "An Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled
Seamen." The U.S. Public Health Service also wears U.S. Navy
uniforms and the United States Surgeon General is an admiral as
a commissioned officer. All of the commissioned officers in the
United States Center for Diseases Control (CDC) wear uniforms,
as they do in the Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC).
1:12:35 PM
MR. WHITE turned to Senator Lisa Murkowski on slide 5, and noted
that Senator Murkowski was born in Ketchikan in a Public Health
Services hospital while her father was in the United States
Coast Guard. Traditionally, the U.S. Coast Guard is the only
military branch that does not, essentially, have essentially
doctors or hospitals, which is why they use the Public Health
Service.
1:13:26 PM
REPRESENTATIVE LEDOUX noted that she lived in Kodiak at one
time, and opined that Kodiak has the largest U.S. Coast Guard
base in the country. She asked whether the base has its own
hospital.
MR. WHITE noted that he does not have the answer to that
question, but the U.S. Coast Guard does have clinics.
1:13:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked the rating of Senator Frank
Murkowski's in the U.S. Coast Guard.
MR. WHITE answered that he did not know the answer, and he has
never heard Senator Frank Murkowski talk about his rating.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER answered that Senator Murkowski was a
storekeeper second.
1:14:20 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 6, and explained that under Title 14
U.S. Code, the U.S. Coast Guard was established on January 28,
1915, "it shall be a military service and a branch of the armed
forces of the United States at all times." Under 14 U.S. Code
Section 89, the U.S. Coast Guard is tasked with being law
enforcement that enforces the maritime laws of the United
States. In 1915, the U.S. Coast Guard officially became a
military service by merging the Revenue Cutter Service and the
U.S. Lifesaving Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard with the
emblem known today.
1:15:28 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slides 7-9 and noted that the U.S. Navy was
disbanded in 1785. Initially, he explained, Alexander Hamilton
was the Father of the U.S. Coast Guard, on the $10 bill, and he
was the first Secretary of the Treasury. Subsequent to the
Revolutionary War, the United States was essentially "a broke
country" with no money and not many avenues to collect revenue.
In that regard, custom laws were enacted with the intended
duties of enforcing tariffs, so Alexander Hamilton decided to
develop a system of cutters to help enforce the tariff laws and
assist in the collection of the monies. The Constitution of the
United States was ratified in 1788, and the Revenue Cutter
Service came into existence only two years after the
constitution was ratified. The Revenue Cutter Service was
charged with enforcing custom laws, then in 1822, the Timber Act
was passed to protect the country's strategic natural resources
of which the Revenue Cutter Service played a big role in this
protection. In April of 1912, the [Royal Mail Ship] RMS Titanic
sank and the International Ice Patrol was formed.
MR. WHITE turned to slides 9-10, and advised that in 1791, the
first cutter of ten cutters was commissioned, everything was
smaller in those days and this ship was only 48' long with two
masts. After realizing the U.S. Navy should be recommissioned,
the Naval Act of 1794 [Sess. 1, ch. 12, 1 Stat. 350], was passed
by the 3rd United States Congress on March 27, 1794 and signed
into law by President George Washington. It did not become
active until 1798.
1:17:59 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slides 10-13, and advised that the Revenue
Cutter Service/U.S. Coast Guard has been active in all wars. He
referred to the 1797-1801 "XYZ Affair," which was a diplomatic
incident between French and United States diplomats that
resulted in a limited, undeclared war known as the Quasi-War.
He advised that the U.S. Navy had not yet become operational and
the Revenue Cutter Service was actually the only marine force
America had available, and it protected the nation from the
problems it was having with privateers. He then read the list
of wars from slide 10, and advised that the Revenue Cutter
Service/U.S. Coast Guard played an important part in all of the
wars. During the War of 1812, United States Revenue Cutter
(USRC) captured the British Schooner Patriot, the first naval
capture of that conflict. Slide 11a is a photograph of the
Confederate Army's Steamer, SS Nashville in service at the
beginning of the Civil War, and on the right is the United
States Revenue Cutter Harriett Lane. He explained that the SS
Nashville was trying to steam into Charleston Harbor without
displaying a flag of origin, it was basically trying to sneak
into the harbor. The USRC Harriett Lane fired a shot over its
bow to tell it to show its colors, and that was the first naval
shot of the Civil War. In World War 1, six Coast Guard cutters
were sent to England to assist in convoy duty due to the damages
caused by German U-Boats, so the cutters escorted convoys from
Great Britain to Gibraltar. Unfortunately, he advised, as the
war was coming to an end in 1918, the U-Boat USCGC Tampa sank
with the loss of all hands. Slide 12a depicts the current USCGC
Tampa as the name lives on in memory of those lives lost. In
World War 1, Lieutenant Philip Bentley Eaton served Alaska duty
on the USCGC Bear for two years, he was selected to perform that
duty from the first U.S. Coast Guard Naval Aviation class in
1917. He explained that the U.S. Coast Guard had decided that
aviation was going to be important, so the first training was
held in Pensacola, Florida. Slide 13b depicts World War II, and
the sign read as follows: "The Marines solute the Coast Guard
for their big part in the invasion of Guam. They put us here
and we intend to stay."
1:21:12 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slides 14-15a, and noted that on September
27, 1942, Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro was in charge of a
group of small boats that were used to drop about 500 Marines at
a beachhead by the Matanikau River. When Munro's boats returned
to their rallying point, after the drop-off, they were told that
the Marines were under attack from a huge Japanese force and
needed to be extracted immediately. Signalman 1st Class Munro
quickly volunteered for the job and devised a way to evacuate
the battalion. Despite heavy fire from machine guns on the
island, Munro directed five of his small craft toward the shore
to pick up the Marines who had made it back to the beach. As
they closed in, he signaled the other boats to land, and they
were able to collect most of the Marines, but some were
struggling. In an effort to block them from enemy fire,
Signalman 1st Class Munro moved his own boat as a shield between
the beachhead and the other boats. His actions cost Signalman
1st Class Munro his life, he was hit by enemy fire and killed.
According to fellow signalman Ray Evans, who enlisted with
Munro, and was on the boat with him when he died, Munro's last
words were, "Did they get off?" referring to the last of the
Marines.
MR. WHITE advised that Signalman 1st Class Munro is the only
U.S. Coast Guard member to receive the Medal of Honor, and in
honor of his actions, the USCGC Munro is stationed in Kodiak.
The USCGC Cyane, while stationed in Ketchikan, served a couple
of years of Alaska duty before World War II started, it was then
refitted to perform anti-submarine patrols, convoy escorts
traveling to Adak, Kodiak, search and rescue duty, and so forth.
1:22:47 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slides 15b-17a, and advised that the Alaska
Purchase Ceremony was on October 18, 1867, purchased in March of
that year, and not long after that, the U.S. Revenue Cutter
Lincoln arrived in Sitka carrying a survey party headed by
George Davidson, visiting Kodiak and Unalaska. When Alaska was
purchased, the general feeling in the U.S. Congress and possibly
the public, was "What? $7 million to buy a frozen wasteland?"
The U.S. Revenue Cutter Lincoln, as part of the survey party,
produced a 300 page report which was used to assist in the first
appropriation of monies for the development of Alaska. The U.S.
Revenue Cutter Lincoln also brought the official delegation to
receive Alaska from Russia during the Alaska Purchase Ceremony,
he said.
1:23:57 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 17b, and explained that when Alaska
was purchased, the only infrastructure it actually received was
the Baranof Castle in Sitka where a light beacon was positioned
at the top. He explained that there was a separate lighthouse
service at the time, it was not part of the U.S. Coast Guard,
and that service decided it was too hard to maintain and wanted
nothing to do with the lighthouse. He related that, "Out of the
goodness of their hearts," the U.S. Army actually ran the beacon
on top of the Baranof Castle for 10 years for free.
MR. WHITE turned to slides 18-19a, and advised that the USRC
Wayanda performed survey and research in Alaska, and recommended
that a federal reserve be established to protect the northern
fur sales for the Aleut people and the Privoloff Islands after
research was done to show they needed some protection, and the
federal government acted quickly on this problem. The USRC
Wayanda also surveyed Cook Inlet and some of Southeast Alaska.
When Alaska was purchased, it was considered to be a frozen
wasteland, which included fishing. Except, the USRC Wayanda
fished close to the Aleutian Islands and found it to be a rich
fishing ground for cod and halibut. In 1877, the U.S. Army,
which had been protecting Alaska for 10 years, was suddenly
pulled out of Alaska. After performing research as to the
reason, he found that the year prior, the 1876 Battle of Little
Big Horn took place which was described as a "huge black eye for
the U.S. Army," and a presidential election was coming that
November of 1876, and Ulysses S. Grant was President. He
explained that the two presidential candidates in 1876 were
Samuel Tilden, Democrat, and Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican.
Mr. Tilden won the popular vote and received 184 electoral
votes, but the electoral college count needed to be 185. Twenty
votes had not actually been cast by mostly southern states, he
opined, so the U.S. Congress set up a commission to deal with
this issue, which resulted in a lot of back room dealing in the
Congress. This presidential election took place during the
rebuilding of the south which is called Reconstruction [1865-
1877], and after the Civil War, U.S. Army troops occupied some
southern states and some governors were not allowed to take
their seats. In order to solve the presidential election
dilemma, it was agreed that all federal troops would withdraw
from the south and the governors would re-take their seats. For
that deal, President Hayes picked up the rest of the electoral
votes resulting in President Hayes with 185 electoral votes, Mr.
Tilden with 184 electoral votes. Mr. White commented that
exciting elections were not invented just recently.
MR. WHITE advised that in June of 1877, the troops were
withdrawn and President Hayes stated the War Department would no
longer be in charge of Alaska, and the Department of the
Treasury was now in charge. Under the Department of the
Treasury was the Revenue Cutter Service. He referred to the
actions of Congress and withdrawing the troops, referencing the
passage of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. He noted that the
[Wild] West continued the practice of British common law, which
gave sheriffs the right to arrest those resisting a warrant and
form a posse, he explained. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878
prohibited the use of the U.S. Army to aid civil officials in
enforcing the law or suppressing civil disorder unless expressly
ordered to do so by the president.
1:28:56 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 19b, and advised that Thomas Corwin
was the Secretary of the Treasury under President Millard
Corwin, and the USRC Corwin made its first Bering Sea trip in
1877. In 1880, John Sherman, Secretary of the Treasury, ordered
annual Bering Sea patrol duty, and Treasury Secretary Sherman is
known for the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. The whole issue
of Alaska being under the Department of the Treasury changed the
future of Alaska.
MR. WHITE turned to slide 19, and advised that the captain of
the USRC Corwin was Captain C.L. Hooper who had visited several
villages around the state, and one of those villages changed its
name to Hooper Bay. In 1883, Captain Michael Healy took command
of the USRC Corwin.
1:30:05 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 20a, "1884 Early Aids to Navigation"
and reiterated that the aid to navigation that Alaska had to
start with was the beacon on top of Baranof Castle and finally
in 1884, 1,400 buoys were set close to Sitka. When the U.S.
Army pulled out of Sitka, the beacon on top of the Baranof
Castle was also out, and finally, in 1895, a beacon was added
back to Sitka. In 1897, the only aids to navigation were around
Sitka and it was the time of the Klondike Gold Rush. As the
committee is aware, navigating in Southeast Alaska is dangerous
especially without any type of help with aids to navigation, and
the Klondike Gold Rush actually took place without any
navigational assistance, except when close to Sitka.
1:30:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER requested a description of a Revenue
Cutter.
MR. WHITE explained that a cutter is a reference to a smaller
sailing vessel with two masts, and Alexander Hamilton decided
America needed a system of cutters. The name Revenue Cutter
stuck until the Revenue Cutter Service became the U.S. Coast
Guard in 1915. He advised that originally, the Revenue Cutters
were there to assist in the collection of revenues for the
country.
1:32:07 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 20b-22, and advised that in 1885, the
USRC Bear was transferred to Alaska, and it served 41 years on
Alaska patrol duty, which is the longest serving revenue
cutter/coast guard cutter ever, and that number has never been
surpassed. It is a pretty famous ship, he described. "Hell
Roaring" Captain Mike Healy commanded the USRC Bear in 1886, and
he was the first African-American to receive a commission in the
United States, and the first African-American to command a
commissioned ship. Captain Healy was African-American but his
father was a slave owner, which is a whole story by itself.
Captain Healy was able to go to school, get into the revenue
cutter service, and perform especially well. The fact that he
was African-American was basically a secret, he never told
anyone, and it was not known for a long time, he said.
1:33:12 PM
CHAIR TUCK noted that the USRC Bear was displayed in the
[capitol] lounge and when the art was reorganized in the lounge,
he took it to his office.
1:33:39 PM
MR. WHITE explained that the USRC Bear controlled the illegal
liquor distribution traders used to exploit Natives, and the
Native people referred to the USRC Bear as "the fire canoe with
no whiskey." During the summer of 1888, some whaling ships were
stranded in the Arctic, close to Point Barrow, and they couldn't
get out. Captain Healy was told that that it was "a near
impossible rescue," but he went anyway. This is partly how he
got his name Captain "Hell Roaring" Mike Healy. He went there
anyway to rescue 160 seamen from the storm with no loss of life.
Mr. White then read a sample of the duties of the revenue
cutters at the time, as follows:
The United States Revenue Cutters secured witnesses
for a murder case; ferried reindeer from Siberia to
Alaska; transported the territorial governor on a tour
of Alaska's islands; shipped a USGS survey team to Mt.
Saint Elias; carried lumber and supplies for school
construction in remote locations and the Arctic;
delivered teachers to their remote assignments;
carried mail for the U.S. Postal Service; enforced
seal hunting laws in the Pribilof; assisted the coast
and geodetic survey team; provided medical relief to
Native populations; served all life-saving rescue
missions; and enforced federal law.
MR. WHITE described the above as a sample of what the revenue
cutters were doing for Alaska in the early days.
1:35:40 PM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD commented that she was impressed that
that the cutters were able to save lives without a single life
lost, "that's called efficient government right there."
MR. WHITE responded that all of the ships he has referenced so
far in this presentation performed many of those same duties.
The revenue cutters, and later the coast guard cutters also
performed judicial functions and were referred to as the
"floating court system." The revenue cutters would carry the
judge/judges to perform their legal duties to remote locations
in Alaska. Alaska was not even a territory until 1912, it did
not have judicial districts so the revenue cutter service played
an important role.
1:36:31 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 23, and explained that reindeer and
caribou are, although technically the same, caribou are wild
animals indigenous in North America. Reindeer are domestic
animals that were domesticated in Europe and brought to North
America, which is what slide 23 depicts. Early on, Captain
Healy realized that the Natives had been relying on hunting and
fishing, except after the white people arrived in Alaska, their
stocks of everything were being depleted and malnutrition and
starvation was taking place within the Native population.
Captain Healy put his head together with Dr. Sheldon Jackson, a
Presbyterian missionary, and they considered domestic reindeer
as the solution. In 1891, the USRS Bear shipped live reindeer
to the Aleutian Islands from Siberia just see whether the
reindeer could survive the transport and then survive in Alaska,
and they could. In 1892, Captain Healy brought over the first
official shipment of animals to Alaska. During the 1890s,
revenue cutters transported thousands of reindeer, and by 1930,
domesticated reindeer herds totaled 600,000 with 13,000 Native
Alaskans relying on the herds for subsistence.
1:38:07 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 24a, and noted that the slide depicts
the 1/6/2012 commemoration of the USCGC Healy, an icebreaker.
In 2012, a harsh winter was taking a toll on Nome causing it to
basically run out of fuel, an arrangement was made to get a
Russian tanker into Nome to refuel the community. In order to
facilitate that plan, the USCGC Healy actually broke the ice for
the tanker to get in and out.
MR. WHITE turned to slide 24b, and said that in honor of Black
History Month, this is a photo of Alex Haley posing in a U.S.
Coast Guard uniform. He is a famous author, wrote the book
Roots, he was the first journalist in the U.S. Coast Guard, the
first African-American to make Chief Petty Officer grade in the
Coast Guard, and he retired with 20 years in the U.S. Coast
Guard service.
MR. WHITE turned to slide 25b, and noted that it depicts the
commemoration of Alex Haley, as the USCGC Haley, which is
stationed in Kodiak.
1:39:35 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 25b, referred to the USRC Bear, and
said that in 1897, whalers had gotten into trouble in the Arctic
and were stuck in the ice not far from the area the other
whalers had been stuck. The only difference was that this
rescue was in the winter. President William McKinley ordered a
rescue of the eight whaling ships, which was the first time
before climate change that a ship sailed into the Arctic during
winter. These whalers sailed as far north as they could travel,
somewhere around Nome and south of Kotzebue. They obviously
could not take a ship up there so a plan was devised to rescue
these whalers with reindeer because the whalers would otherwise
starve to death. The captain sent Lieutenant David H. Jarvis
and Officer Ellsworth P. Bertholf to drive a herd of reindeer
all the way around coastal Alaska to Point Barrow, which is
about 1,500 miles. In March 1898, they stopped and gathered
reindeer along the way and drove them across Kotzebue Sound on
the ice, which is a whole story by itself. He said that they
drove reindeer 1,500 miles and finally ended up delivering 382
reindeer to the stranded whalers with no loss of life.
MR. WHITE said that to commemorate, the USRC/USCGC Bear is
depicted in slide 26a, and it is the modern day 35-year old
USCGC Bear. Slide 26a depicts a photo of Ellsworth Bertholf who
has his own long story, and he ended up being the first
commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard when it became a military
service in 1915. Slide 27a depicts the USCGC Bertholf in
commemoration of Ellsworth Bertholf.
1:42:10 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked how many different classes of
cutters are currently being used in the U.S. Coast Guard.
MR. WHITE replied that the U.S. Coast Guard does so many things
that he was unsure he could answer that question properly. The
USCGC Bertholf is a patrol craft in the security class, the
first one was actually commissioned in 2010 and, he opined,
approximately 12 or 16 will be commissioned. The security class
patrol craft are the newest and largest patrol craft of the U.S.
Coast Guard. As far as how many different classes, that is
scaled down all the way to small boats, it is a complex function
that goes to buoy tenders and icebreakers, he said.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked the oldest cutter class in service.
MR. WHITE answered that the oldest class in service for the
patrol craft is probably the 378s, such as the USCGC Munro which
is based in Kodiak. These ships were built during the late
1960s, and he opined that some are still in service today,
although, they are slowly going out of commission.
1:44:05 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 27a-28a, and advised that in 1898, the
USRC Manning began its Alaska duty, and in 1900 started its
Bering Sea duty. On June 6, 1912, the USRC Manning was tied up
in Kodiak when the Mount Katmai Volcano began erupting on the
Alaska Peninsula, the biggest volcanic eruption in the 20th
Century. He advised that not many people were killed because
they had received warnings and were evacuated, but some
communities and villages were destroyed when a huge amount of
ash was dumped on Kodiak. Most of the residents in Kodiak
actually boarded the USRC Manning, and the next day the ship got
underway out to sea for a period of time. The 500 residents of
Kodiak were completely evacuated and they returned after the
volcano calmed down. The USRC Manning helped to relocate
several of the villages by transporting the people and some of
the products.
1:45:35 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 28, and advised that originally, 16
lighthouses were built in 1902-1932, and 11 are still in use
today such as, the Unimak Pass [Scotch Cap Lighthouse] on the
easternmost island in the Aleutian Islands. When traveling from
the North Pacific into the Bering Sea, Unimak Pass is the route
to get there. A lighthouse was first built in Unimak Pass in
1903, then rebuilt in 1940. In 1945, Anthony Petit received the
assignment light keeper to the Scotch Cap Lighthouse as the head
of a five-man crew. All of the men were killed on April 1, 1946
during the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake, when a massive
tsunami struck the station, destroying it. This was the worst
disaster to ever befall a land-based Coast Guard light station.
The United States Coast Guard named a Keeper Class buoy tender
USCGC Anthony Petit (WLM-558), based in Ketchikan in his honor
and it maintains aids to navigation.
1:47:43 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 30b, and advised that during World War
II, the War Department decided it would turn off all aids to
navigation in order to not help the enemy navigate around
Alaska. Unfortunately, not only did that decision not help the
enemy but it didn't help our friends because the SS Mount
McKinley ran aground in bad weather, close to Scotch Cap
Lighthouse in 194, because the light was not lit.
1:48:47 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 31a, referred to the aids to
navigation after the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush, and noted that in
June 1906, the first real aids to navigation were actually
installed in the state, not counting the lighthouses which were
the large aids. He reiterated that the lighthouse service was a
separate organization until 1939 when it merged with the U.S.
Coast Guard, but the U.S. Coast Guard was performing the aids to
navigation.
MR. WHITE turned to slide 31b, and advised that the photo
depicts the USCGC Storis, stationed in Kodiak for a long time,
it has an interesting service which is a whole story by itself.
In World War II, the USCGC Storis had an interesting story in
Greenland, and in 1948 it was transferred to Alaska for Bering
Sea duty. In its role in Alaska, it also performed in the same
manner as its predecessors by delivering medical, dental, and
judicial services around the state. The USCGC Storis was
stationed in Kodiak until it was decommissioned in 2007. It was
the first ship to circum-navigate North America in 1957, and
together with two buoy tenders, they went all the way around and
ended up on the East Coast.
1:50:56 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 32, and noted that the bridge on the
left of the photo depicts the old Juneau-Douglas bridge, and the
bridge on the right depicts the new Juneau-Douglas bridge. He
advised that the U.S. Coast Guard approves all bridges over the
navigable waters of the United States. He suggested requesting
a review from the U.S. Coast Guard as to what they are doing in
Alaska today. He described that there are 14 cutters stationed
around the state, 17 aircraft, an air station in Kodiak and
Sitka, and 3 small boat stations.
1:52:06 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 33, and advised that the U.S. Coast
Guard continues aids to navigation, and in long ship channels
range markers are installed: there is a forward and after range
marker; one is low and one is high; when the range markers are
lined up, "you are in the channel." The photo is the range
marker installed just below the runway at the Anchorage
International Airport where a moose photo-bombed his picture.
MR. WHITE advised that the U.S. Coast Guard maintains
approximately 1,300 aids to navigation around the state, and
some are seasonal. For example, in the Gastineau Channel,
seasonal markers are installed in the channel during the summer,
and they are removed in the winter. He described the Gastineau
Channel as a "very tricky place," it is getting shallower and
shallower and the U.S. Coast Guard does its best to keep the
channel as safe as possible.
MR. WHITE turned to slide 33b, and advised that the U.S. Coast
Guard is the only branch that is not under the Department of
Defense. It originally started under the Department of the
Treasury under Alexander Hamilton, it stayed there until 1967
when it was moved to the U.S. Department of Transportation,
which is when the U.S. Coast Guard was assigned the
responsibility of approving bridges. In 2002, after the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Coast Guard
was moved to the Department of Homeland Security where it
resides today. The U.S. Coast Guard is the only branch of the
military allowed to enforce civil law under the Posse Comitatus
Act of 1878. He commented that the country does not want the
military enforcing civil law, but it does want the U.S. Coast
Guard enforcing all maritime laws. He described it as good news
and bad news that the U.S. Coast Guard is the only branch not
housed under the Department of Defense because the U.S. Coast
Guard is always competing with other civilian functions.
Previously the U.S. Coast Guard was under the Department of
Transportation and competed with freeways for money, and
currently it is competing for everything else that is under the
Department of Homeland Security budget, he said.
1:54:39 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slides 34a-35a, and advised that on 8/23/17,
the USCGC Maple, a buoy tender stationed in Southeast Alaska,
celebrated its 60th anniversary. The USCGC Maple circum-
navigated North America, traveled all the way around to the East
Coast, and back through the Panama Canal on its way back to
Alaska.
MR. WHITE turned to slide 35a, and advised that the U.S. Coast
Guard's white flag will always be on the right when the five
flags of the services are displayed, and the U.S. Army's white
flag is always displayed on the left.
1:55:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER asked the history of the colors of the
flags.
MR. WHITE answered that he does not know the history behind the
development of the flag and he would have to perform research.
He opined that it was developed not long after the U.S. Coast
Guard became an official part of the military.
1:56:09 PM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD referred to slide 34b, and requested the
meaning of the banners in the flag, and is the meaning of Semper
Paratus.
MR. WHITE answered that the Latin on top of the eagle, "E
pluribus unum" is the national motto, [which means out of many,
one]. The U.S. Coast Guard's motto is Semper paratus, "always
ready", and the U.S. Marine Corp.'s motto is Semper fidelis
"always faithful."
CHAIR TUCK noted that it resembles the "U.S. Seal" symbol with
the arrows and the olive branch, and the 13 colonies are
represented in the stars.
1:57:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER commented that that is the national
crest, and E pluribus unum is the country's national motto.
1:58:04 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 35b, and described it as the U.S.
Coast Guard emblem, and the stripes appeared in 1967. Prior to
that time, U.S. Coast Guard ships were white and the only way to
determine whether it was a U.S. Coast Guard ship was because it
had the letter "W" before the hull number. After 1967, all U.S.
Coast Guard ships and boats wore the racing stripe, which many
other countries have copied in trying to emulate the U.S. Coast
Guard.
1:58:45 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slide 36, and noted that the picture depicts
the three ship colors, the top left is the USCGC Maple, which is
black and is a buoy tender. These buoy tenders are also known
as "working ships" blue collar ships, because those ships
maintain the aids to navigation, which is extremely hard work.
The servicemembers pull the buoys out of the water that have
been sitting there for a year or years and are completely
covered with barnacles, wherein the buoys have to be refurbished
and make sure everything is in working order, and then returned
to their location. All of the aids to navigation, the floating
aids, the buoys, the fixed aids on shore, and the day markers,
are maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard and it is a huge amount
of work. The ship on the right is the USCGC Bertholf, it is the
newest of the security class cutters, and the bottom picture is
the USCGC Healy, all U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers in today's
world are red, he explained.
1:59:55 PM
MR. WHITE referred to slide 37, and advised that he cut this
article out of the Anchorage paper in 1999, it is the USCGC
Polar Sea taken from the boat launch in Anchorage. He explained
that the USCGC Polar Sea and the USCGC Polar Star are
sisterships built in 1976. He explained the USCGC Polar Sea is
now permanently tied up in Seattle, Washington, and is
essentially being used for parts for its sistership, USCGC Polar
Star. The U.S. Coast Guard still claims that this is an
icebreaker but the USCGC Polar Sea is not working, and the USCGC
Polar Star is the only functional icebreaker the service has at
this time. The USCGC Polar Star is becoming an aging ship and
every time they take it out something happens, it supports the
United States interest in Antarctic every winter. This is a
huge issue, he noted because the U.S. Coast Guard needs
icebreakers, another icebreaker has been approved but there is
no money to build it at this time. Although, money was included
in the budget last year but it never made it through the U.S.
Senate, money is being put in the budget this year and hopefully
there will be enough money to build one more icebreaker. He
stressed that the country really needs five to ten more
icebreakers, but right now the U.S. government is struggling
just to get one more. He described that the cost of an
icebreaker is approximately $1 billion, and it takes about 10
years to build, which is a lot of lag time.
2:01:57 PM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD commented that Russia has "a ton of
these" and asked how icebreakers were taken off the nation's
radar with such a large, critical, and important coastline.
MR. WHITE said that he completely agrees, these ships were built
in the 1970s and are over 40 years old. He advised that the
country needs to have a national priority to get icebreakers out
there because as the climate changes, this will become more and
more important and he cannot stress this issue enough. Mr.
White opined that approximately $700 million is in the federal
budget, which is not enough to build a whole icebreaker, but at
least most of the icebreaker could be completed. Hopefully, he
suggested, the U.S. Congress has the foresight to actually pass
this budget. As to how this issue fell off the radar, he said
that he honestly does not know the answer to that question. He
noted that he has been tracking this personally for
approximately 15 years. In 2010-2011, he was working in Juneau
as a staffer when the USCG performed an update and the Admiral
advised him, off the record, that there was no plan to really go
after this issue. He described this issue as hugely important
for this state and nationally, the USCG played such an important
role in the past and icebreakers are part of its future. This
is an important role to carry on for oil exploration, more
cruise ship passengers, more freight, and so forth, he pointed
out.
2:04:14 PM
REPRESENTATIVE REINBOLD stated that the amount spent on social
services is approximately $3.3 billion, and the nation could
build three icebreakers with that budget.
MR. WHITE stressed, "That's nothing compared to the military
budget. We're talking hundreds of [billions] of dollars in the
military budget." The USCG is not under the Department of
Defense, and in all fairness, the money that has been proposed
is actually in the U.S. Navy budget, which is where it belongs.
In a declared war, the USCG becomes part of the U.S. Navy, he
reiterated.
CHAIR TUCK corrected Mr. White's misstatement and said that
hundreds of "billions" of dollars are in the military budget.
MR. WHITE agreed that he meant billions of dollars.
2:05:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER opined that the federal government has
authorized money for icebreakers but not appropriated the money,
which is an important distinction.
CHAIR TUCK pointed out that there is a resolution in the Alaska
House of Representatives that will be going to the Arctic
Policy, Economic Development & Tourism Special Committee to
address that issue.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER further opined that "our strategy is to
pray for global warming to accelerate."
MR. WHITE responded that the thing about global warming is that
it will allow the nation to have more time in the Arctic, but
during the winter, there will still be ice and the need for
icebreakers for hundreds of years. Therefore, he pointed out,
this is still a huge issue.
2:06:05 PM
MR. WHITE turned to slides 38-40, advised that slide 38 is a
picture of himself in boot camp, and a picture of his patrol
ship. Beginning in 1970, the USCGC Sebago performed ocean
stations and long patrols in the Atlantic Ocean under a major
traffic route. Slide 39a depicts a historical plaque that was
put in at the Pensacola training facility three years ago
commemorating his ship. He said he would not explain slide 39b
because it was not directly related to the USCG. He turned to
slide 40a, and commented that the USCG receives a lot of ribbing
from the U.S. Navy as "coasties" and this slide is his friendly
ribbing back to the U.S. Navy. The slide depicts a $4 billion
proto-type Navy ship that actually broke down, and at the bottom
of the picture the caption read, "Hang on We're Coming," to
rescue the Navy ship. Slide 40b represents a message from the
Department of Defense to keep everything safe, and he can no
longer access those research sites.
2:08:06 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER commented that he appreciated the
historical lessons, and asked whether other maritime nations,
with the same coastal protection of revenue interests, employ
the same model of a separate naval warfare branch, or do the
countries incorporate it into their naval functions.
MR. WHITE related that interestingly, he was talking to former
Representative John Harris yesterday, and his great uncle was a
USCG captain who helped develop, after World War II, the initial
Japanese Coast Guard. Mr. White said that Canada has a coast
guard and the United States and Canada work closely together on
many issues. The difference with Canada is that Canada has a
discrete coast guard that is similar to the USCG, but in Canada
it is not a military force, it is a civilian force. As far as a
military function, he opined, the Canadian Coast Guard does not
have a role in the military.
2:09:32 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER requested the grade/rank structure of the
USCG versus the U.S. Army or U.S. Navy.
MR. WHITE responded that the USCG mirrors the U.S. Navy, and up
until 1967, their uniforms were identical except for "one small
thing" to the U.S. Navy.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER requested a description of the enlisted
ranks.
MR. WHITE answered that it mirrors the U.S. Navy in all aspects
and grades.
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked whether the retirement benefits are
the same in the USCG and the U.S. Navy.
MR. WHITE replied that the retirement benefits are the same and
that all military use the same scale for pay, retirement,
veteran benefits, medical service, and so forth.
REPRESENTATIVE SADLER asked whether the accommodations or medals
for when the USCG comes under fire, are the same.
MR. WHITE replied that they receive the same accommodations and
the USCG is eligible for all of the same medals for any military
service. The USCG has been in all of the wars, he reiterated,
and the USCG is a regular military service with the peculiarity
of not being under the Department of Defense.
2:11:34 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER thanked Mr. White for his presentation
because clearly, he is dedicated to the USCG and has a fondness
for history.
CHAIR TUCK thanked Mr. White as well for his service, being a
good advocate for the armed forces during his retired life, and
sharing the history he has researched.
2:12:09 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked whether there is an academy for
USCG officers.
MR. WHITE responded that the USCG has an academy that is like
the other military academies with one difference, in every other
military academy, a person must be appointed by a senator or
someone. In the USCG Academy, the only requirement to enter the
academy is to apply, other than that, the USCG Academy is
located in New London, Connecticut, and it is just like all of
the other military academies with all the same military fun.
2:14:01 PM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs meeting was
adjourned at 2:13 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| USCG Alaska History Juneau.pdf |
HMLV 2/22/2018 1:00:00 PM |
US Coast Guard Presentation |