The Coast Guard’s installations range from small boat stations providing  search and rescue and other services to marine safety offices that  coordinate security and other activities in the nation’s largest ports. The Coast Guard’s Emphasis on Security Continues to Affect Its Levels of Effort in Some Missions

The emphasis the Coast Guard placed on security after September 11th  has had varying effects on its level of effort among all of its missions, as  measured by the extent to which multiple-mission resources (cutters,  other boats, and aircraft) are used for a particular mission. The most  current available data show that some security-related missions, such as  migrant interdiction and coastal security, have grown significantly since  September 11th. Other missions, such as search and rescue and aids to  navigation remained at essentially the same levels as they were before  September 11th. However, the level of effort for other missions, most  notably the interdiction of illegal drugs and fisheries enforcement, is  substantially below pre-September 11th levels. Recently, the Coast Guard Commandant stated that the Coast Guard  intends to return the level of resources directed to law enforcement  missions (drug interdiction, migrant interdiction, and fisheries  enforcement) to 93 percent of pre-September 11th levels (using a baseline  of the 8 quarters prior to September 11, 2001) by the end of 2003 and 95  percent by the end of 2004. Significant Challenges Raise Concerns about Coast Guard’s Ability to Accomplish Its Diverse Missions

The Coast Guard faces fundamental challenges in balancing resource use  among its missions and accomplishing everything that has come to be  expected of it. Some New Homeland Security Duties Are Not Fully Factored into the Coast Guard’s Distribution of Resources

The Coast Guard has also been tasked with a myriad of new homeland  security requirements, but funding to implement them is not provided in  either the enacted fiscal year 2003 budget or the fiscal year 2004 budget  request. Under the  Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA), signed into law in  November 2002, the Coast Guard must accomplish a number of security- related tasks within a matter of months and sustain them over the long  term. Transition to Homeland Security Poses Additional Challenges

The creation of DHS is one of the largest, most complex restructurings  ever undertaken, and the Coast Guard, as one of many agencies joining the  department, faces numerous challenges, including organizational, human  capital, acquisition, process and technology issues. These studies have produced a  number of recommendations, such as shifting some responsibilities to  other agencies. A comprehensive blueprint or strategy is needed for setting and  assessing levels of effort and mission performance. One important effort  that has received relatively little attention, while the Coast Guard has  understandably put its homeland security responsibilities in place, is the  development of a plan that proactively addresses how the Coast Guard  should manage its various missions in light of its new operating reality.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Coast Guard is one of 22 agencies being placed in the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). With its key roles in the nation's ports, waterways, and coastlines, the Coast Guard is an important part of enhanced homeland security efforts. But it also has important nonsecurity missions, such as search and rescue, fisheries and environmental protection, and drug and migrant interdiction. GAO has conducted a number of reviews of the Coast Guard's missions and was asked to testify about the Coast Guard's most recent level of effort for its various missions and the major operational and organizational challenges facing the agency during its transition into the newly created DHS.

What GAO Found

Data on the most recent levels of effort for the Coast Guard's various missions show clearly the dramatic shifts that have occurred among its missions since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Predictably, levels of effort related to homeland security remain at much higher levels than before September 11th. Other missions, such as search and rescue, have remained at essentially the same levels. In contrast, several other missions--most notably fisheries enforcement and drug interdiction--dropped sharply after September 11th and remain substantially below historical levels. Continued homeland security and military demands make it unlikely that the agency, in the short run, can increase efforts in the missions that have declined. Further, the fiscal year 2004 budget request contains little that would substantially alter the existing levels of effort among missions. The Coast Guard faces fundamental and daunting challenges during its transition to the new department. Delays in the planned modernization of cutters and other equipment, responsibility for new security-related tasks as directed under the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA), and mandatory responses to unexpected events, such as terrorist attacks or extended terror alerts, will have an impact on the Coast Guard's ability to meet its new security-related responsibilities while rebuilding its capacity in other missions. Also, as one of the agencies being merged into the new department, the Coast Guard must deal with a myriad of organizational, human capital, acquisition, and technology issues. The enormity of these challenges requires the development of a comprehensive blueprint or strategy that addresses how the Coast Guard should balance and monitor resource use among its various missions in light of its new operating reality.