The U.S. Coast Guard is facing its largest readiness crisis since World War II, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday as she promised an overhaul of the service that she called the “point of the spear” in the nation's defense.
Noem, the keynote speaker at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy's commencement, outlined the Trump administration's plans to increase the service's military workforce by at least 15,000 by the end of fiscal year 2028. The plan also calls for reducing the number of admirals by 25%, boosting recruiting efforts and increasing the fleet, including icebreakers that are used in the Arctic.
“A new chapter for America’s Coast Guard, one like we have never seen before, starts right now,” she told the 256 cadets, who became newly minted officers from the prestigious service academy in New London, Connecticut.
Noem spoke of the Coast Guard being 10% short of its enlisted workforce goals and relying on outdated aircraft and ships, some sailing with 75% of the needed crew members. She recalled a meeting with President Donald Trump, who she said asked what the Coast Guard needed.
“I said sir, they need everything,” Noem said. “They've been neglected for too long.”
Big change is afoot
The Coast Guard has more than 43,000 active duty members, 8,000 reservists, and 30,000 auxiliary members.
“We are on the edge of transformational change,” said Adm. Kevin E. Lunday, who Noem announced Wednesday will become the service’s new commandant. Lunday has been the service’s acting commandant since Jan. 21, after Trump fired former Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan, the first female leader of the Coast Guard.
The administration’s modernization plan, called Force Design 2028, officially takes effect on Wednesday, Noem said. Besides increasing the workforce, it calls for the appointment of a dedicated civilian leader to oversee the nation's maritime service, essentially mirroring how the other branches of the U.S. military are led at the Pentagon.
Nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, the proposed Coast Guard Service Secretary within the Homeland Security Department would advocate for a service “weakened by decades of underinvestment, neglect and strategic drift,” and create a new level of accountability, according to the plan released Wednesday.
Such a change would require congressional approval. Currently, there is at least one bill before Congress that would create such a position.
“Creating a Secretary of the Coast Guard ensures they have the leadership, resources, and support they need to continue their vital missions,” said the bill’s author, Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell of Mississippi, chair of the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, in a recent written statement. “It’s time we give the Coast Guard the same level of recognition and advocacy that other military branches receive.”
Coast Guard is now under Homeland Security
Control of the Coast Guard was officially transferred from the U.S. Department of Transportation to DHS in 2003. The Commandant of the Coast Guard, a four-star admiral and the highest ranking Coast Guard officer, is now tasked with leading the service.
The Coast Guard competes for attention with more than a dozen components of the DHS, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Under the Trump administration’s plan, the appointment of a secretary, accountable to the president and the DHS secretary and subject to congressional oversight, presents an opportunity to reform the service’s organizational structure.
“The Coast Guard must be able to conduct its missions and deliver results without being mired in wasteful bureaucracy,” the report reads.
A major focus of the plan is to reorganize how the service operates, eliminate redundancies and streamline processes for things like acquiring much-needed cutters and icebreakers. Part of that reorganization includes reducing the approximately 47 admirals by 12 in hopes of empowering decision-making at all levels of the Coast Guard while creating a “more agile, capable and responsive fighting force.”
Many of the service academy graduates cheered the promised reforms during Wednesday's commencement. Cadet Veronica Krystofik of Colchester, Conn., who was named the Distinguished Graduate of the class of 2025, said Force Design 2028 marks “the most significant shift in a century.”
“But I'm not worried because I know exactly who is stepping up to that challenge. Our class,” she said.
Six international students also graduated on Wednesday. They will return to their native countries’ maritime services.
More than 200 protesters gathered in a park near the front gate of the academy on Wednesday ahead of the commencement, many denouncing Noem’s immigration enforcement policies. Some held signs reading “Kristi Noem Go Home” and also urging the Coast Guard to “Disobey Unlawful Orders,” referring to recent deportation flights.
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Susan Haigh, The Associated Press
