Coast Guard works to prevent rising mission-related deaths
Admiral Robert Papp, the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), announced that the service is conducting a comprehensive review and may eliminate certain missions and capabilities, in light of the sharp increase of mission related deaths; in the past two years, fourteen Coast Guard aviators and one Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) member have died in accidents that occurred during routine missions; Admiral Papp is concerned that service members are overburdened by training for too many different skill sets and have had inadequate time to master them; since 9/11 USCG has added missions and capabilities without a corresponding increase in service personnel; Papp cites a helicopter crash in July 2010 that killed three aviators as evidence; the crash occurred during a routine mission in which the team was flying from Astoria, Oregon to Sitka, Alaska
Last Thursday the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Admiral Robert Papp, delivered the annual state of the Coast Guard speech and announced that the Coast Guard is undergoing a comprehensive review to reduce the number of missions and skills it trains for, in light of the sharp increase of mission related deaths.
In the past two years, fourteen Coast Guard aviators and one Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) member have died in accidents that occurred during routine missions.
Admiral Papp said, “I’ve spoken at too many memorial services.”
“We’ve also had several serious boat accidents. This is unprecedented. It’s unacceptable. And we’ve got to do something about it,” he said.
Papp has ordered the USCG to conduct a “stem-to-stern” review of its deployable specialized forces with a specific focus on the capabilities the service has added since 9/11.
In the past decade, USCG has added several specialized capabilities and missions without a corresponding increase in service personnel. The commandant believes that this has resulted in service members training for too many different technical skill sets without sufficiently mastering any of them.
“We’ve thrown many, many new activities and proposed capabilities out there for our people to train to,” he said. “Because there are so many, they don’t become experts at any of them.”
Papp hopes to cut new missions and skill sets, particularly those added after 9/11, so that the USCG can focus on core mission functions.
“We may need to reduce the number and range of capabilities we’ve added since 9/11, until properly resourced, and this will be acceptable,” Papp said during his speech on Thursday. “I openly acknowledge that the Coast Guard does not have the resources to perform at 100 percent in every one of our statutory missions on every given day.”
The USCG recently cancelled a program that trained MSST members to hook ladders onto the sides of non-compliant ships and pull themselves aboard due to fears that they were overburdening the MSST. The Coast Guard also questioned the need for such a capability as well the redundant nature of it as Navy SEALs and other maritime services can complete such missions.
More gravely, the commandant worries that training for additional capabilities has jeopardized the safety of service members and in some instances led to their deaths.
He said, “I fear that our focus on reorganization and expanding missions post-9/11 have taken the edge off our skills across the service — and particularly our seamanship and airmanship skills.”
“All they were doing was taking off from one airport,” he said, and “it was not an equipment failure.”
Papp believes that fatal accidents could be avoided by redoubling training efforts to ensure that service members are more than merely qualified to perform specific tasks. He hopes that by reducing the number of tasks members are required to train for, they can become more proficient.
“You’re training so hard on so many things, that when you’re doing something routine, you’re not keeping your head within the cockpit enough,” he said.
The review is currently underway and is scheduled to be completed by early August.
Admiral Papp concluded by cautioning the service against trying to do too much and over-extending itself.
“Our ‘can-do’ attitude is both a blessing and a curse,” he said.
“Too often we have pursued activities and capabilities that we were not asked to do, not tasked to do, and not resourced to do. Before we take on any new initiatives, we’re going to take a hard look at their impact on our people, operations and logistics. We’re going to cost them out, and ensure we understand their full ramifications.”
