ONDCP Seal
 PolicyPolicy
IV. Agency Budget Summaries

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD


  1. RESOURCE SUMMARY

  2. METHODOLOGY

    • Operating Expenses (OE) funds are used to operate Coast Guard facilities, maintain capital equipment, improve management effectiveness, and recruit, train, and sustain its all volunteer active duty military, and civilian workforce. The Coast Guard's Program Budget is a systematic process by which costs to operate and maintain multi-mission resources from the OE appropriation are allocated to operating programs. Items contained in the Coast Guard's drug control Operating Expenses budget reflect drug interdiction's pro rata share of their costs.

    • AC&I: In scoring drug-related funding requests within the AC&I appropriation, only those assets with a direct contribution to drug interdiction efforts apply. For each AC&I project, the Coast Guard allocates the percentage of the project corresponding to the percentage of time that asset (or type of asset) contributed to the drug law enforcement mission in FY 1997, the most recent year for which data was available. New projects are scored on their projected contribution to drug law enforcement.

    • RDT&E: This unit contains funding associated with the direct and indirect project support for the drug law enforcement mission. Funding for the direct project support is based on R&D tasks done solely to assist and improve drug detection and interdiction. Test and evaluation of drug detection equipment for improved search techniques under the Comprehensive Maritime Law Enforcement project is an example.

    • FTE: FTE are calculated based on the percentage of personnel dedicated to drug enforcement from FY 1997 actuals extrapolated from the Coast Guard's Corporate Database accounting system. This percentage is then adjusted for FY 1998-1999 personnel +/- growth according to the drug budget funding activity. Due to the Coast Guard's multi-mission nature as illustrated in the program budget algorithm, this methodology portrays the best estimate of current FTE associated with drug law enforcement activity.

  3. PROGRAM SUMMARY

    • Maritime drug interdiction is an integral component of the National Drug Control Strategy. The Coast Guard enforces Federal drug control laws in the transit and arrival zones as the Nation's principal maritime law enforcement agency with jurisdiction on, under and over the high seas and U. S. territorial waters. The Coast Guard's goal is to reduce the supply of illegal drugs entering the United States by denying smugglers the use of air and maritime routes and interdicting contraband.

    • Campaign STEEL WEB is the Coast Guard's ten year Counterdrug Strategic Plan for drug interdiction in the transit and arrival zones in support of the National Drug Control Strategy. The four cornerstones of the Counterdrug Strategic Plan are:

      • Maintain a strong "defense in depth" interdiction presence in the transit and arrival zones;

      • Strengthen ties with source and transit zone nations to increase their willingness and ability to reduce the production and trafficking of illicit drugs within their sovereign boundaries, including territorial seas;

      • Support interagency efforts to combat drug smuggling; and,

      • Promote efforts to reduce illegal drug and alcohol use in the maritime environment.

  4. BUDGET SUMMARY

    1998 Program

    • The FY 1998 drug program will sustain interdiction activity in the Operation FRONTIER SHIELD area of operations around Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Pulse operations in the vicinity of Haiti and the Dominican Republic will be introduced in FY 1998 as a prelude to Operation FRONTIER LANCE, and will serve as a proof of concept for law enforcement operations forward staged out of foreign bases with international partners.

    • The FY 1998 base program includes $401.6 million for drug related activities in support of Goals 4 and 5 of the National Drug Control Strategy. This total includes $366.1 million for Operating Expenses; $34.5 million for Acquisition, Construction, and Improvements; and $0.9 million for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation.

    • The FY 1998 OE budget is focused on increasing operations tempo and end-game capability with assets already in the Coast Guard base improving the effectiveness of current law enforcement operations with drug detection sensors, improved intelligence, and increasing the capabilities of international counterparts.

    • The FY 1998 AC&I budget funds ongoing contracts such as the 82 foot patrol boat capability replacement and the surface search radar replacement. In FY 1998, the Coast Guard will initiate a project to outfit HC-130 aircraft with Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) sensors to improve the all-weather and night search capability of the long range aircraft.

    • The FY 1998 RDT&E funding is primarily related to improved surveillance sensors, communications, and drug detection systems.

    1999 Request

    • The FY 1999 drug budget request will allow the Coast Guard to continue FRONTIER LANCE and FRONTIER SHIELD at FY 1998 levels of effort. Once fully funded in outyears, FRONTIER SHIELD and FRONTIER LANCE will significantly reduce drug traffic bound for the United States through the Caribbean back door.

    • Furthermore, the FY 1999 drug budget request will allow the Coast Guard to maintain interdiction efforts in the maritime regions along the Southwest Border. Under Operations GULF SHIELD and BORDER SHIELD, the Coast Guard has established maritime operations that complement the coalition efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to reduce trafficking across the Southwest Border. By cultivating its relationship with the Mexican Navy, the Coast Guard is well positioned to bring an international partnership to bear on the Southwest Border Initiative.

    Goal 4: Shield America's air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat.

    • The total drug control request for Goal 4 activities for FY 1999 is $430.9 million, a net increase of $35.6 million over FY 1998.

    • The FY 1999 OE request will allow the Coast Guard to maintain a presence in high threat areas of the Caribbean within the context of national priorities to balance the federal budget, and continue its participation in joint interagency and international counterdrug efforts in the maritime approaches to the U.S. at each end of the Southwest Border.

    • The FY 1999 AC&I and RDT&E funding will leverage technology to improve interdiction efficiency.

    Goal 5: Break foreign and domestic drug sources of supply.

    • The total drug control request for Goal 5 activities for FY 1999 is $6.4 million.

    • The Coast Guard has also requested $2.3 million in FY 1999 for an International Caribbean Support Tender to draw together the various U.S., European Union and Canadian programs that support Caribbean national security initiatives. The tender would provide training and maintenance to foster international cooperation and significantly improve the operational effectiveness of regional coast guards.

  5. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

    • Operation FRONTIER SHIELD was introduced in FY 1997 in the maritime approaches to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. This region was identified as the second largest gateway, behind the Southwest Border, for drugs into the United States and provided an opportunity to create an immediate and measurable impact. The success of FRONTIER SHIELD is directly attributable to the synergy of effort from the coalition of interagency and international law enforcement agencies involved in the operation. The results and lessons learned serve as a case study for the genuine value of interdiction.

    • During FY 1997, FRONTIER SHIELD forces around Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands seized 23 vessels transporting 31,127 pounds of cocaine, arrested more than 100 suspects, and disrupted 17 additional deliveries of an estimated 37,400 pounds of cocaine.

    • By interagency estimates, FRONTIER SHIELD forces have reduced the flow of cocaine to Puerto Rico by 46%. Smugglers appear to have abandoned direct maritime routes in favor of new (more difficult) routes to the west. FY 1997 seizures in the region were at record levels, roughly 3 times higher than levels of the previous year. More importantly, Puerto Rico is no longer overwhelmed by drug traffickers and illegal migrants. Operation FRONTIER SHIELD demonstrates tangible positive impacts of interdiction in Puerto Rico. Drug-related crime is down 37% from the year before and the Governor no longer needs the Puerto Rico National Guard to maintain order in the housing projects. Today, on the streets of San Juan and its feeder cities like New York and Boston, cocaine purity is down and street prices are up nearly 36%.

    • The multi-mission Coast Guard has traditionally provided a high rate of return to the public. In FY 1997, overall interdiction efforts resulted in a record year for Coast Guard drug seizures. During the year, the Coast Guard seized (or assisted in the seizure of) 103,617 pounds of cocaine and 102,538 pounds of marijuana products. Cocaine seizures easily surpass the previous record set in FY 1991 -- 90,335 pounds.

    • FY 1997 saw a surge in Coast Guard Counterdrug activity. This capability came from both internal and external sources. ONDCP provided the Coast Guard $14.6 million to increase operating tempo in the Caribbean and along the Southwest Border. Additionally, the Coast Guard temporarily re-deployed effort put into other programs such as illegal migrant interdiction, fisheries law enforcement and other law enforcement activities and missions where threat analysis indicated such temporary re-deployment would not adversely impact our program standards and outcome goals. These two sources of effort allowed the Coast Guard to conduct $141.3 million of Counterdrug activities above projected base levels.