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Korean War
Coast Guard military historyDuring the Korean War (1950-53), the Coast Guard performed a variety of tasks. After the start of the conflict, the Coast Guard established air detachments throughout the Pacific. These detachments, located at Sangley Point in the Philippines, Guam, Wake, Midway, Adak, and Barbers Point in the Hawaiian Islands conducted search and rescue to safeguard the tens of thousands of United Nations troops that were being airlifted across the Pacific. The service recommissioned a number of mothballed Navy destroyer escorts to augment the fleet.
Coast Guard military historyIn January 1953 a PBM flying from Sangley landed in 12-foot seas in an attempt to rescue a Navy P2V crew. The Coast Guard amphibian crashed on takeoff when an engine failed. Five Coast Guard and four Navy men lost their lives. Additional weather station sites were established in the Pacific to help guard the flow of troops and supplies to Korea. Twelve destroyer escorts were transferred from the Navy to the Coast Guard to help carry out this duty. Also, a team of about 50 Coast Guardsmen were stationed in Korea, helping establish the Korean Coast Guard, which has since evolved into that country’s Navy (right). The Coast Guard also provided communications and meteorological services plus assured port security and proper ammunition handling.
War in Vietnam
Coast Guard military history The Coast Guard was asked to participate in the Vietnam War by the Army, Navy, and Air Force and performed a variety of duties. At the outset of the military buildup in the mid-1960s, the Navy lacked shallow water craft needed for inshore operations. To help fill this need, the Coast Guard sent 26 82-foot cutters to Vietnam. These formed Squadron One.
The squadron, split into three divisions, was stationed at Danang in the north (Division 12), Cat La in the center (Division 13), and An Thai in the south (Division 11). The cutters spent some 70 percent of their time underway. They inspected junks for contraband, intercepted and destroyed North Vietnamese and Viet Cong craft, and provided fire support for friendly forces.
While the 82-foot cutters helped patrol inshore, larger cutters helped form a deepwater barrier against infiltration. For this task, the Coast Guard established Squadron Three. It consisted of five high endurance cutters on ten-month deployments from their U.S. home ports. Thirty high endurance cutters served on this duty between 1967 and 1971.
The U.S. Army had the difficult task of setting up harbor security and getting cargo safely unloaded and moved into the country. Since almost all munitions entered South Vietnam by ship, the Army asked the assistance of the Coast Guard. The men of the Coast Guard Port Security and Waterways Detail traveled throughout Vietnam inspecting ports and harbors for security against enemy attack and safe storage of hazardous materials. Coast Guard Explosives Loading Detachments were established at major ports to supervise the off-loading of ships (left).
Coast Guard military history The Coast Guard set up and operated a LORAN C (long range navigation) system in Southeast Asia in order to assist the U. S. Air Force warplanes with precision navigation. It was a difficult task finding transmitting sites, bringing in equipment, and building the system. The Coast Guard LORAN Construction Detachment began work in January 1966 and on 8 August 1966 the navigation network was on the air. LORAN stations were established in Lampang, Sattahip, and Udorn, Thailand and Con Son, Vietnam (right). A fifth station was later added in Tan My, Vietnam.
Coast Guard military history The rapid development of deepwater ports in Vietnam brought an expanded need of navigational aids for preventing vessel accidents. South Vietnam’s small aids-to navigation force with its one buoy tender could not meet the demand. Coast Guard buoy tenders in the Pacific made periodic trips to Vietnam installing and maintaining buoys. A Coast Guard Aids to Navigation (ATON) Detail was set up in Saigon to coordinate workloads for these visits as well as keeping buoys and range markers lighted.
At the height of the military buildup more than 300 merchant ships were engaged in the sealift of materiel to Vietnam. The Coast Guard Merchant Marine Detail resolved merchant seaman problems and ensured that these ships moved in and out with as little delay as possible.
Coast Guard pilots flew combat search and rescue with the Air Force in Southeast Asia, under an inter-service exchange program. Most of the time the pilots were assigned to the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, at Danang. The flew Sikorsky HH-3F "Jolly Green Giants" in some of the most dangerous operations undertaken during the war. One Coast Guardsman, LT Jack Rittichier, was killed when his helicopter was shot down during an attempt to pull an American from enemy-held territory. Coast Guard military history
Coast Guard military history Some 8,000 Coast Guardsmen served in Vietnam. Seven lost their lives and 59 were wounded. Although research is incomplete, it has been verified that through 1970, Coast Guardsmen received the following awards: 12 Silver Stars, 13 Legion of Merit medals, 16 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 114 Bronze Stars, 87 Air Medals, 151 Navy Commendation Medals, 27 Army Commendation Medals, five Coast Guard Commendation Medals, 43 Navy Achievement Medals, 66 Purple Hearts, 53 Vietnamese Navy medals and 15 Presidential Unit Commendations.
On 7 March 1984, in an effort to define the role for the Coast Guard in planning for the national defense, the Secretaries of the Navy and Transportation signed a memorandum of agreement establishing Maritime Defense Zones (MDZs) on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. The Commanders of the Coast Guard Atlantic and Pacific Areas were designated as the commanders of these zones. For the purpose of planning and exercising for the coastal defense of the United States, during peacetime these commanders report respectively to the Navy Atlantic and Pacific Fleet Commanders-in-Chief. Upon declaration of war or when the president so directs, the MDZ commands will be activated for operations and will obtain Navy and Coast Guard active and reserve forces. The Area Commanders retain their normal relationship with the Commandant for all other purposes, including the performance of the civil functions of the Coast Guard.
On 4 August 1986, Commandant Paul Yost issued a policy statement which provides that the MDZ Commands and the Coast Guard have inter-related roles in the coastal defense of the United States. The Coast Guard will remain responsible for the performance of those specialized functions, such as enforcement of laws and treaties, promotion of safety of life and property at sea, aids to navigation, icebreaking and search and rescue, for which it has been responsible within the Department of Transportation.
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