### §279. Assignment of Coast Guard personnel to naval vessels for law enforcement purposes

(a) The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide that there be assigned on board every appropriate surface naval vessel at sea in a drug-interdiction area members of the Coast Guard who are trained in law enforcement and have powers of the Coast Guard under title 14, including the power to make arrests and to carry out searches and seizures.

(b) Members of the Coast Guard assigned to duty on board naval vessels under this section shall perform such law enforcement functions (including drug-interdiction functions)—

(1) as may be agreed upon by the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security; and

(2) as are otherwise within the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard.

(c) No fewer than 500 active duty personnel of the Coast Guard shall be assigned each fiscal year to duty under this section. However, if at any time the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consultation with the Secretary of Defense, determines that there are insufficient naval vessels available for purposes of this section, such personnel may be assigned other duty involving enforcement of laws listed in section 374(b)(4)(A) 1 of this title.

(d) In this section, the term "drug-interdiction area" means an area outside the land area of the United States (as defined in section 374(b)(4)(B) 1 of this title) in which the Secretary of Defense (in consultation with the Attorney General) determines that activities involving smuggling of drugs into the United States are ongoing.

(Added Pub. L. 99–570, title III, §3053(b)(1), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3207–75, §379; amended Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title XI, §1104(a), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2045; Pub. L. 107–296, title XVII, §1704(b)(1), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2314; renumbered §279, Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title XII, §1241(a)(2), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2497.)

#### **Editorial Notes**

#### References in Text

Section 374 of this title, referred to in subsecs. (c) and (d), was renumbered section 274 of this title by Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title XII, §1241(a)(2), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2497.

#### Prior Provisions

A prior section 279, added Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title VIII, §822(d)(1), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1707, authorized acceptance of gratuitous services of officers of reserve components, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 103–337, div. A, title XVI, §§1661(a)(2)(A), 1691, Oct. 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 2979, 3026, effective Dec. 1, 1994. See section 10212 of this title.

Another prior section 279, added Pub. L. 85–861, §1(5)(C), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1439; amended Pub. L. 94–273, §11(2), Apr. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 378, directed Secretary of Defense to report to President and Congress, in January of each year, on the status of training of each reserve component and the progress made in strengthening the reserve components during the preceding fiscal year, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 95–485, §406(b)(1).

#### Amendments

2016—Pub. L. 114–328 renumbered section 379 of this title as this section.

2002—Subsecs. (a), (b)(1), (c). Pub. L. 107–296 substituted "of Homeland Security" for "of Transportation".

1988—Pub. L. 100–456 amended section generally, substituting "every appropriate surface naval vessel" for "appropriate surface naval vessels" in subsec. (a), substituting "section 374(b)(4)(A)" for "section 374(a)(1)" in subsec. (c), and inserting "(as defined in section 374(b)(4)(B) of this title)" in subsec. (d).

#### **Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries**

#### Effective Date of 2002 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 107–296 effective on the date of transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, see section 1704(g) of Pub. L. 107–296, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

1 See References in Text note below.