Department of Homeland Security

Office of Inspector General 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard's 


Mission Performance 


(FY 2007) 


OIG-09-13 December 2008 

(Revised) 
 

Office of Inspector General 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Washington, DC 20528

 December 17, 2008 

Preface 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) was 

established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) by amendment 

to the Inspector General Act of 1978. This is one of a series of audit, inspection, and 

special reports prepared as part of our oversight responsibilities to promote economy, 

efficiency, and effectiveness within the department. 

This report addresses the annual review of the U.S. Coast Guard’s mission performance, 

as required by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. It is based on interviews with 

employees and officials of relevant agencies and institutions, direct observations, and a 

review of applicable documents. 

It is our hope that this report will result in more effective, efficient, and economical 

operations. We express our appreciation to all of those who contributed to the 

preparation of this report. 

Richard L. Skinner 


Inspector General 

 

Table of Contents/Abbreviations 

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 1
 

Background ........................................................................................................................ 2 

Results of Review ...............................................................................................................3 

Non-Homeland Security Mission Performance Continues to Fall Short of 

Targets ....................................................................................................................... 4 

Total Resource Hours Remain Level, But Hours for 

Non-Homeland Security Missions Decline .............................................................. 4 

Future Budget Dollars and Personnel Resources to Emphasize Homeland Security 

Missions .................................................................................................................... 6
 

Performance Measures Now Part of the DHS Annual Performance Report and are 

Evaluated for Completeness and Reliability ............................................................. 9 

Appendices 

Appendix A: Non-Homeland Security Missions as Reported by Coast Guard........... 13 

Appendix B: Homeland Security Missions as Reported by Coast Guard................... 21 

Appendix C: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology ................................................... 28 

Appendix D: Management Comments to the Draft Report ........................................ 30 

Appendix E: Major Contributors to this Report ......................................................... 36 

Appendix F: Report Distribution ............................................................................... 37 

Abbreviations 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

FY Fiscal Year 

GAO Government Accountability Office 

OIG Office of Inspector General 

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 
OIG
 

Department of Homeland Security 

Office of Inspector General 

Executive Summary 

This report presents our annual review of the U.S. Coast Guard’s 

mission performance as required by the Homeland Security Act of 

2002. To address the Act’s requirements, we reviewed the Coast 

Guard’s reported performance targets and results for each nonhomeland security and homeland security mission, as well as its 

reported resource hours used to perform the various missions from 

Fiscal Year 2001 through Fiscal Year 2007. We also reviewed 

Coast Guard’s reported budget figures allocated by mission from 

Fiscal Year 2004 through Fiscal Year 2007, and projected through 

Fiscal Year 2009. This report summarizes the Coast Guard 

reported data; we did not verify the accuracy of this data. 

The Coast Guard reported it met 6 of 11 performance targets in 

Fiscal Year 2007, the same overall level of performance as Fiscal 

Year 2006. For the second year in a row, the Coast Guard met 2 of 

the 6 performance targets for non-homeland security missions. 

Further, Coast Guard data show that in Fiscal Year 2007 compared 

to Fiscal Year 2006, non-homeland security missions resource 

hours decreased while homeland security missions resource hours 

increased. Similarly, Coast Guard budget projections in dollars 

and personnel from Fiscal Year 2007 to Fiscal Year 2009 illustrate 

decreases for the non-homeland security missions and increases for 

the homeland security missions. 

The Coast Guard concurred with the majority of the findings in the 

draft report. The Coast Guard was concerned that the conclusions 

regarding greater mission emphasis on homeland security missions, 

based on budget authority allocation projections, were misleading. 

According to the Coast Guard, this was not designed for nor 

intended to project out-year budget allocations across missions. We 

have made changes throughout the report to address the Coast 

Guard’s comments, as appropriate, and have included the comments 

in their entirety as Appendix D. 

Our analysis, however, of the Coast Guard’s reported mission 

performance, resource hours, and budget projections shows a clear 

trend toward emphasizing the homeland security missions, which 

will lead to continuing difficulty in meeting future performance 

targets for the non-homeland security missions. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 1 
Background 

Coast Guard Missions. Section 888 of the Homeland Security 

Act of 2002, Public Law 107-296, November 25, 2002, directs the 

Inspector General to conduct an annual review that assesses the 

performance of all the Coast Guard missions, with a particular 

emphasis on non-homeland security missions. This Section also 

defines the Coast Guard’s missions as either non-homeland 

security missions or homeland security missions as follows: 

Non-Homeland Security Missions 

• Marine safety 

• Search and rescue 

• Aids-to-navigation 

• Living marine resources 

• Marine environmental protection 

• Ice operations 

Homeland Security Missions 

• Ports, waterways, and coastal security 

• Drug interdiction 

• Migrant interdiction 

• Defense readiness 

• Other law enforcement 

In addition, Section 888 of the Act prohibits the Secretary from 

substantially or significantly reducing any of the Coast Guard’s 

missions or its capability to perform those missions, subsequent to 

the transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS). 

Performance Targets and Results. The Coast Guard’s 

performance is measured as part of the DHS Performance 

Management Framework, which ties DHS’ goals and objectives to 

its mission-oriented programs. Program performance goals are 

reported in terms of their associated performance measures and 

targets, which express the tangible, measurable objective against 

which actual achievement can be compared. 

DHS participated in an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 

Pilot Program for Alternate Approaches to Performance and 

Accountability Reporting for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007. This pilot 

program sought to improve performance reporting by presenting 

information in a more accessible, informative, and complete 

format. The pilot, pursuant to OMB Circular A-136, Financial 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 2 
Reporting Requirements, is an alternative to the consolidated 

Performance and Accountability Report published in previous 

years. The Annual Performance Report, one of three separate 

reports of the pilot, contains DHS’ Annual Performance Plan for 

FY 2009. The Annual Performance Report also contains more 

detailed performance information as required by the Government 

Performance and Results Act. It reports performance 

achievements for FY 2007 and communicates projected levels of 

performance associated with the FY 2009 President’s Budget. We 

did not verify the accuracy of the reported performance measure 

results. 

Resource Hours. The Coast Guard uses resource hours – 

generally the number of flight hours (for aircraft) and underway 

hours (for boats and cutters) dedicated to a specific mission – to 

determine the amount of time that is expended in each of its 

non-homeland security and homeland security missions. During 

our review, we analyzed the total number of resource hours 

reported by the Coast Guard from a baseline of pre-September 11, 

2001 data, through FY 2007. The Coast Guard-calculated baseline 

is an annual average of resource hours based on eight FY quarters 

preceding September 11, 2001. We did not, however, verify the 

resource hour data reported by the Coast Guard, nor did we 

validate whether the Coast Guard accurately classified resource 

hour use for each mission. We assessed total resource hours for 

the 11 individual missions in order to identify the changes in each. 

Budget Figures Allocated by Mission. The Annual Performance 

Report also contains full cost budget figures by Coast Guard 

mission, including allocated overhead and administrative costs. 

The figures presented are from FY 2004 through FY 2007, as well 

as projections for FY 2008 and FY 2009. 

Results of Review 

Our analysis of the Coast Guard’s reported mission performance, 

resource hours, and budget projections in dollars and personnel 

indicates a clear trend toward emphasis of the homeland security 

missions. Non-homeland security mission performance, as shown 

in Table 5 (page 14), declined to its lowest level in FY 2006 since 

FY 2001 and did not improve in FY 2007, meeting only two of six 

targets. In contrast, homeland security missions performance, as 

shown in Table 6 (page 22), improved significantly between FY 

2001 and FY 2006 and maintained that level of performance for 

FY 2007, meeting four of five targets. In addition, the majority of 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 3 
resource hours prior to September 11, 2001, were dedicated to the 

non-homeland security missions while the majority of resource 

hours since FY 2001 have been dedicated to the homeland security 

missions. Coast Guard budget projections in dollars and personnel 

from FY 2007 through FY 2009 illustrate decreases for the nonhomeland security missions in contrast to significant increases for 

the homeland security missions, especially for the Ports, 

Waterways, and Coastal Security mission. 

Non-Homeland Security Mission Performance Continues to Fall 

Short of Targets 

The Coast Guard reported it met the same 6 of 11 performance 

targets for FY 2007 that it met for FY 2006. For the second year in 

a row, the Coast Guard reported it only met its performance targets 

for 2 of the 6 non-homeland security missions. Two of the nonhomeland security missions, Search and Rescue and Living Marine 

Resources, missed their targets by less than 1% for both years. 

The targets for the other two non-homeland security missions, 

Aids-to-Navigation and Marine Safety, were more widely missed. 

According to the Coast Guard, its performance goals are 

“ambitious and achievable,” and if properly established, may not 

be achieved each year. 

In contrast, the Coast Guard reported it met four of the five 

performance targets for the homeland security missions for FY 

2007, which matched its FY 2006 results. The only performance 

target that was not met was Defense Readiness, which has not been 

met since FY 2001. Coast Guard officials do not believe this 

measure will be met until new Deepwater assets are fielded. Coast 

Guard’s Deepwater program is a 25-year, $24 billion effort to 

upgrade or replace existing vessels and aircraft. 

Assessments of Coast Guard reported performance targets and 

results for non-homeland security missions and homeland security 

missions are included in Appendices A and B, respectively. 

Total Resource Hours Remain Level, But Hours for NonHomeland Security Missions Decline 

Based on the Coast Guard’s data, we conclude that the Coast 

Guard’s heightened responsibilities to protect America’s ports, 

waterways, and waterside facilities from terrorist attacks will 

continue to require significant resource hours. However, an 

unexpected major event, such as a natural disaster (another 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 4 
Hurricane Katrina) or a man-made disaster (a terrorist attack) 

could result in shifting resources between non-homeland security 

and homeland security missions. Prior to FY 2001, the majority of 

Coast Guard reported resource hours were dedicated to the nonhomeland security missions; however, since September 11, 2001, 

the majority of reported resource hours have been dedicated to the 

homeland security missions as illustrated in the following chart. 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Resource Hours-All Missions 

62% 59% 42% 38% 37% 43% 45% 43% 

62% 

57% 55% 57%

38% 41% 58% 

63% 

0 

100,000 

200,000 

300,000 

400,000 

500,000 

600,000 

700,000 

800,000 

900,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Resource Hours 

Non-Homeland Security Missions Homeland Security Missions 

Total Coast Guard reported resource hours, comprised of the 

number of flight hours (for aircraft) and underway hours (for boats 

and cutters) dedicated to a specific mission, dropped to 770,716 in 

FY 2007, declining by less than 1%, compared to 774,112 in 

FY 2006. Of that total in FY 2007, non-homeland security 

resource hours dropped to 328,617, decreasing 4.7% compared to 

344,993 the previous year. Homeland security resource hours 

reached 442,099 in FY 2007, increasing 3.0% compared to 

429,199 the previous year. 

Total resource hours for FY 2007 have increased 59.2% from 

baseline. Non-homeland security resource hours have increased 

10% while homeland security resource hours have increased 138% 

from baseline figures. For FY 2007, 42.6% of resource hours were 

for non-homeland security missions while the balance of 57.4% 

represented homeland security missions. The largest percentage of 

all Coast Guard resource hours was utilized by Ports, Waterways, 

and Coastal Security, a homeland security mission, accounting for 

28.5% of total resource hours for FY 2007. The following chart 

illustrates each mission’s resource hours for FY 2007. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 5 
Resource Hours By Mission - FY 2007 

0 

50,000 

100,000 

150,000 

200,000 

250,000 

Marine

Safety

Search and 

Rescue

Aids-toNavigation

Living Marine

Resources

Marine Environmental

Protection

Ice

Operations

Ports, Waterways &

Coastal Security

Illegal Drug

Interdiction

Undocumented

Migrant Interdiction

Defense 

Readiness

Other Law

Enforcement 

Missions 

Resource Hours 

Non-Homeland Security Missions Homeland Security Missions 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Assessments of Coast Guard reported resource hours for individual 

non-homeland security missions and homeland security missions, 

are included in Appendices A and B, respectively. 

Future Budget Dollars and Personnel Resources to Emphasize 

Homeland Security Missions 

The Department of Homeland Security’s Annual Performance 

Report for Fiscal Years 2007 – 2009 contains Program Measure 

Results and Plan tables which provide detailed information for 

each program (mission) that contributes to DHS goals and 

objectives. Each Coast Guard non-homeland security mission and 

homeland security mission has an individual table which includes 

information describing the resources needed (dollars and 

personnel) to achieve the mission’s performance target. Budget 

dollar figures on the tables represent the full cost of the missions, 

including allocated overhead and administrative costs. Historical 

results are displayed for FY 2004 through FY 2007 and projections 

are made for FY 2008 and FY 2009. 

Budget: We compiled and totaled the dollar budget figures for 

each mission from the Annual Performance Report, as presented in 

Table 1. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 6 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1 

U.S. Coast Guard Budget ($ Millions) 

FY 

2004 

FY 

2005 

FY 

2006 

FY 

2007 

FY 

2008 

FY 

2009 

Non-Homeland Security 

Missions � Actual � � Estimated �

Search and Rescue $1,576 $911 $832 $929 $904 $924 

Marine Safety 487 614 786 755 757 754 

Aids-to-Navigation 946 1,153 1,156 1,321 1,276 1,189 

Ice Operations 185 186 111 132 149 133 

Marine Environmental 

Protection 350 255 337 298 373 359 

Living Marine Resources 742 720 766 972 777 833 

Total Non-Homeland 

Security Missions $4,286 $3,839 $3,988 $4,407 $4,236 $4,192 

Homeland Security 

Missions 

Migrant Interdiction $245 $549 $504 $874 $510 $515 

Drug Interdiction 907 1,017 1,244 1,280 1,208 1,276 

Other Law Enforcement 103 95 108 160 105 136 

Ports, Waterways, and 

Coastal Security 1,834 1,625 1,610 1,362 2,081 2,593 

Defense Readiness 229 613 510 691 765 634 

Total Homeland 

Security Missions $3,318 $3,899 $3,976 $4,367 $4,669 $5,154 

Totals $7,604 $7,738 $7,964 $8,774 $8,905 $9,346 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

The figures clearly illustrate the Ports, Waterways, and Coastal 

Security mission dollars, which had declined between FY 2004 and 

FY 2007, are projected to almost double from FY 2007 to 

FY 2009. As the following chart illustrates, the annual budget 

projections in dollars (identified in Table 1) for FY 2009 by 

mission illustrate a 4.9% reduction for the non-homeland security 

missions from FY 2007, while homeland security missions will 

increase by 18.0%. 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Missions Budget Distribution

 $2,500 

$3,000 

$3,500 

$4,000 

$4,500 

$5,000 

$5,500 

$6,000 

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 

Fiscal Year 

$ Millions 

Non-Homeland Security Missions Homeland Security Missions 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 7 
 

Personnel: We also compiled and totaled personnel figures from 

the Annual Performance Report, as presented in Table 2. 

Table 2 

U.S. Coast Guard Full Time Equivalents 

FY 

2004 

FY 

2005 

FY 

2006 

FY 

2007 

FY 

2008 

FY 

2009 

Non-Homeland 

Security Missions � Actual � � Estimated �

Search and Rescue 4,845 4,136 4,652 5,004 4,893 4,826 

Marine Safety 3,223 5,528 4,012 4,109 3,806 3,801 

Aids-to-Navigation 6,749 6,985 7,526 8,549 7,330 7,269 

Ice Operations 1,295 1,149 906 854 810 791 

Marine Environmental 

Protection 1,944 1,460 1,356 1,222 1,174 1,138 

Living Marine Resources 4,567 4,022 4,208 4,849 3,955 3,841 

Total Non-Homeland 

Security Missions 22,623 23,280 22,660 24,587 21,968 21,666 

Homeland Security 

Missions 

Migrant Interdiction 1,518 3,065 2,467 4,392 2,481 2,395 

Drug Interdiction 5,494 4,662 6,333 6,159 6,006 5,798 

Other Law Enforcement 657 445 703 758 587 575 

Ports, Waterways, and 

Coastal Security 14,670 12,268 12,906 7,710 13,864 15,066 

Defense Readiness 996 2,942 2,076 4,038 3,644 3,422 

Total Homeland 

Security Missions 23,335 23,382 24,485 23,057 26,582 27,256 

Totals 45,958 46,662 47,145 47,644 48,550 48,922 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

As indicated in the compiled figures (identified in Table 2) and in 

the following chart, budget projections for FY 2009 by mission 

show an 11.9% drop in personnel for non-homeland security 

missions from FY 2007. In contrast, the homeland security 

missions, led by increased resources allocated to the Ports, 

Waterways, and Coastal Security mission, are projected to increase 

by 18.2% from FY 2007. 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Full Time Equivalents By Missions 

10,000 

15,000 

20,000 

25,000 

30,000 

35,000 

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 

Fiscal Year 

Full Time Equivalents 

Non-Homeland Security Missions Homeland Security Missions 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 8 
Coast Guard officials stated it would be inaccurate to infer that the 

homeland security missions will be emphasized in FY 2008 and 

FY 2009 based on the figures provided in the Annual Performance 

Report. Officials indicated the tables in the Annual Performance 

Report are generated by a budget tool that distributes budget 

authority across mission-programs based on reported asset hours 

for prior FYs, and projected hours based on a 5-year historical 

baseline for current and future FYs. Officials said the budget tool 

was not designed for, nor intended to project, out-year budget 

allocations across missions. The Coast Guard has established a 

working group to improve the cost model’s out-year projection 

accuracy. However, these published projections are based on 

historical data which, notwithstanding the limitations of the model 

as a predictive tool, from our analysis show a clear trend of 

emphasis towards the homeland security missions. 

Performance Measures Now Part of the DHS Annual 

Performance Report and are Evaluated for Completeness and 

Reliability 

DHS participated in the OMB Pilot Program for Alternative 

Approaches to Performance and Accountability Reporting for 

FY 2007, as an alternative to the consolidated Performance and 

Accountability Report published in previous years. The objective 

of the pilot is to make the presentation of performance information 

more meaningful. As part of this pilot, three separate reports are 

produced: Annual Financial Report, Annual Performance Report, 

and Highlights Report. DHS anticipates this approach will 

improve its performance reporting by presenting the information in 

a more accessible, informative, and complete format. Of the three 

reports, our focus is the Annual Performance Report, which 

contains performance measures, targets, and results by mission. 

The Annual Performance Report combines what was formerly 

known as the Performance Budget Overview along with the 

performance information formerly reported in the Performance and 

Accountability Report. The Annual Performance Report contains 

more detailed performance information than the former 

Performance and Accountability Report as required by the 

Government Performance and Results Act. The report is organized 

by the department’s goals and objectives, with a summary for each 

program performance goal. Program performance goals are 

reported in terms of their associated performance measures and 

targets, which express the tangible, measurable objectives against 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 9 
which actual achievements can be compared. For each 

performance measure presented in the Annual Performance Report, 

a description of the measure, the source of the data, how it is 

collected, and an assessment of the reliability of data are provided. 

Reliability is determined by using OMB guidance, OMB Circulars 

A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements and A-11, Preparation, 

Submission and Execution of the Budget. According to the 

Annual Performance Report, performance data need not be perfect 

to be reliable, particularly if the cost and effort to secure the best 

performance data possible will exceed the value of any data so 

obtained. At a minimum, the Annual Performance Report 

considers performance data to be reliable if program managers and 

decision makers use the data on an ongoing basis in the normal 

course of their duties. According to the Annual Performance 

Report, performance data are also considered reliable if supporting 

transactions and other data are properly recorded, processed, and 

summarized in accordance with criteria stated by management. 

According to the Annual Performance Report, the department has 

reviewed performance measures for conformance to the standard 

of completeness and reliability as specified for federal agencies per 

OMB. The Annual Performance Report indicates that information 

contained therein is complete and reliable in accordance with these 

standards. 

Performance Measures will be Refined to Improve Ability to 

Capture and Record Results 

According to the Annual Performance Report, DHS is committed 

to enhancing its ability to measure and report on performance 

achievements. The Annual Performance Report also states that 

since many programs focus on prevention goals, developing 

outcome oriented performance measures is a challenge. This is an 

iterative process to improve performance measures as 

sophistication in quantifying results grows. 

As such, the DHS Performance Plan for FY 2008 will contain 

149 performance measures; of these 58 are new performance 

measures to improve the ability to capture and record results. 

Further, 36 performance measures have been retired and replaced 

with new performance measures. 

The Coast Guard reported 11 performance measures in the 

FY 2007 Annual Performance Report. The Coast Guard will retire 

the following three existing performance measures for FY 2008: 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 10 
Table 3 

FY 2008 Retired Performance Measures 

Mission Measure 

Marine Safety • Maritime injury and fatality index. 

Marine 

Environmental 

Protection 

• Five-year average number of chemical discharges 

and oil spills per 100 million short tons shipped. 

Undocumented 

Migrant Interdiction 

• Percent of undocumented migrants who attempt to 

enter the U.S. via maritime routes that are 

interdicted or deterred. 

Source: Annual Performance Report 

Also, the following 17 new performance measures will be added in 

FY 2008: 

Table 4 

FY 2008 New Performance Measures 

Mission Measure 

Aids-To-Navigation • Federal aids to navigation availability. 

Ice Operations • Percent success rate in meeting requests for polar ice 

breaking. 

Marine Safety • Five-year average number of commercial mariner 

deaths and injuries. 

• Five-year average number of commercial passenger 

deaths and injuries. 

• Five-year average number of recreational boating 

deaths and injuries. 

Marine 

Environmental 

Protection 

• Five-year average number of oil spills per 100 

million short tons shipped. 

• Percent of oil removed or otherwise mitigated as 

compared to the amount of oil released for reported 

spills of 100 gallons or more. 

• Five-year average number of chemical discharge 

incidents per 100 million short tons shipped. 

Ports, Waterways, 

and Coastal Security 

• Critical infrastructure required visit rate. 

• High capacity passenger vessel required escort rate. 

• Number of Transportation Workers Identification 

Credential spot checks. 

• Risk reduction due to consequence management. 

• Percent risk reduction for the transfer of a terrorist 

meta-scenario.1 

• Percent risk reduction for the transfer of a weapon 

of mass destruction meta-scenario. 

Undocumented 

Migrant Interdiction 

• Percent of undocumented migrants interdicted 

attempting to enter the U.S. via maritime routes. 

Defense Readiness • Defense Readiness of patrol boats. 

• Defense Readiness of port security units. 

Source: Annual Performance Report 

1

 A meta-scenario is a quantitative self-assessment by Subject Matter Experts to assess the overall 

effectiveness of all relevant activities against a comprehensive set of scenarios previously identified 

through an extensive strategic risk assessment. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 11 
As a result of the changes to the performance measures, the Coast 

Guard will report in FY 2008 on 12 non-homeland security 

mission measures and 13 homeland security mission measures. 

Assessments of Coast Guard reported performance targets and 

results for non-homeland security missions and homeland security 

missions are included in Appendices A and B, respectively. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 12 
Appendix A 

Non-Homeland Security Missions 

Non-Homeland Security Missions – Total Resource Hours As 

Reported by Coast Guard 

Resource Hours. After an initial drop in non-homeland security 

resource hours in FY 2002, the total non-homeland resource hours 

increased through FY 2006, then decreased in FY 2007 as shown 

in the chart below. The significant increase (23%) in resource 

hours from FY 2004 to FY 2005 is largely attributed to major 

Search and Rescue efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 

The FY 2007 total non-homeland security resource hours are 10% 

above baseline hours. 

Non-Homeland Security Missions Resource Hours 

Resource Hours 

0 

50,000 

100,000 

150,000 

200,000 

250,000 

300,000 

350,000 

400,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. For FY 2007, the Coast 

Guard did not meet the same four of six non-homeland security 

missions performance measures it missed in FY 2006. The Search 

and Rescue and the Living Marine Resources missions did not 

achieve their targets by less than 1%. The Aids-to-Navigation and 

the Marine Safety missions did not achieve their targets by larger 

margins. 

The Marine Environmental Protection mission has met its target 

for each year from FY 2001 through FY 2007 and the Ice 

Operations mission has met its target the past 3 years. 

Specific performance targets and results for each of the nonhomeland security missions from FY 2001 through FY 2007 are 

summarized in Table 5. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 13 
Actual

Actual

 

 

 

Appendix A 

Non-Homeland Security Missions 

Table 5 

Coast Guard Reported Non-Homeland Security Missions Performance Targets and Results 

Non-Homeland Security 

Missions 

FY 

2001 

FY 

2002 

FY 

2003 

FY 

2004 

FY 

2005 

FY 

2006 

FY 

2007 

Performance 

Measure 

Search and 

Rescue 

Target 85% 85% 85% 85% 86% 86% 86% 

Percentage of mariners 

in imminent danger 

saved 

84.2% 84.4% 87.7% 86.8% 86.1% 85.3% 85.4% 

Result 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

Aids-toNavigation 

Target 2,261 2,098 2,010 1,923 1,831 1,748 1,664 

5-year average number 

of collisions, allisions, 

and groundings 

2,215 2,098 2,000 1,876 1,825 1,765 1,823 

Result 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

Ice Operations Target 8 2 8 2 2 

2 

Average 

8 Severe 

2 

Average 

8 Severe 

Limit the number of 

days critical 

waterways are closed 

due to ice: 

2 days in an average 

winter 

8 days in a severe 

winter 

Actual 7 7 7 4 0 0 0 

Result 

�

Met 

X 

Not Met 

�

Met 

X 

Not Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

Living Marine 

Resources 

Target 97% 97% 97% 97% 97% 97% 97% 

Percentage of 

fishermen complying 

with federal 

regulations

Actual 98.6% 97.3% 97.1% 96.3% 96.4% 96.6% 96.2% 

Result 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

Marine Safety Target N/A N/A 1,543 1,513 1,317 1,280 4,549* 

5-year average number 

of commercial 

mariner, commercial 

passenger, and 

recreational boating 

deaths and injuries* 

Actual 1,651 1,332 1,307 1,293 1,277 1,400 4,770* 

Result N/A N/A 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

Marine 

Environmental 

Protection 

Target 47 45 43 41 20 19 or 

less 

19 or 

less 

5-year average number 

of oil spills per 100 

million short tons 

shipped and the 5-year 

average number of 

chemical discharge 

incidents per 100 

million short tons 

shipped 

Actual 40.3 35.1 29.4 22.1 18.5 16.3 15 

Result 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

Subtotal: NonHomeland 

Security Goals 

Met 

4 of 5 3 of 5 6 of 6 4 of 6 5 of 6 2 of 6 2 of 6 

* The Marine Safety performance measure methodology changed to include recreational boating injuries in addition to the recreational 

boating fatalities and commercial vessel injuries and fatalities previously included. The FY 2007 target was changed to reflect the inclusion of 

recreational boating injuries. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 14 
 

Appendix A 

Non-Homeland Security Missions 

Non-Homeland Security Mission: Search and Rescue 

The Search and Rescue mission responsibilities include 

minimizing the loss of life, personal injury, and property loss and 

damage in the maritime environment by rendering aid to persons in 

distress and property associated with maritime transportation, 

fishing, and recreational boating. 

Resource Hours. Resource hours for the Search and Rescue 

mission increased in FY 2001, decreased during FYs 2002 and 

2003, and then slightly increased in FY 2004, as illustrated in the 

chart below. The decreases during FYs 2002 and 2003 were 

expected due to the responses to the events of September 11, 2001, 

with more resources directed to homeland security missions, such 

as Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security. However, in FY 2005, 

Search and Rescue showed a significant increase, attributable to 

the Coast Guard’s response to Hurricane Katrina, approaching 

baseline levels. FY 2007 resource hours held steady with the 

reduced levels in FY 2006, constituting 73% of baseline. 

Search and Rescue Resource Hours 

0 

10,000 

20,000 

30,000 

40,000 

50,000 

60,000 

70,000 

80,000 

90,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Resource Hours 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. In FY 2007, the second year 

in a row, the Coast Guard missed meeting their target for saving 

mariners in imminent danger by less than 1%. The Coast Guard 

attributed missing the target to several unpredictable factors such 

as weather, location, incident severity, and life saving devices 

onboard, which influenced the number and the outcome of 

incidents. According to the Coast Guard, in FY 2008, Search and 

Rescue mission performance is expected to benefit from the 

installation of improved direction finder technologies on more 

aircraft and Digital Selective Calling capability onboard additional 

cutters and small boats. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 15 
Appendix A 

Non-Homeland Security Missions 

Non-Homeland Security Mission: Aids-to-Navigation 

The Aids-to-Navigation mission is a means for the Coast Guard to 

mark the waters of the United States and its territories to assist 

boaters in navigation and alert them to obstructions and hazards. 

Resource Hours. The chart below shows FY 2007 resource hours 

at a 3% decrease from FY 2006, resulting in an approximate 9% 

decrease from the baseline level and the lowest resource hours to 

date for the Aids-to-Navigation mission. 

Aids-to-Navigation Resource Hours 

0 

20,000 

40,000 

60,000 

80,000 

100,000 

120,000 

140,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

ResourceHours 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. In FY 2007, the Aids-toNavigation mission did not meet its performance target by 

approximately 10% after missing the FY 2006 target by less than 

1%. This mission had been successful in meeting its established 

targets for the 5 years preceding FY 2006. To improve 

performance in FY 2008, the Coast Guard intends to expand 

requirements for vessels to carry Automatic Identification Systems 

and Electronic Chart Systems, as well as continue a review of the 

Short Range Aids to Navigation system. 

A new performance measure will be added for FY 2008 to measure 

Aids-to-Navigation availability as an indicator of system 

functionality. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 16 
Appendix A 

Non-Homeland Security Missions 

Non-Homeland Security Mission: Ice Operations 

Ice Operations is responsible for icebreaking activities in the Great 

Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway, and Northeast.2 This facilitates the 

movement of bulk cargoes carried by regional commercial fleets 

during the winter months. 

Resource Hours. Resource hours for Ice Operations steadily 

increased through FY 2004 and took a sharp decline in FY 2005 

and again in FY 2006. These are not unusual fluctuations since 

this mission is dependent on ice accumulation, which fluctuates on 

a yearly basis. In FY 2007 resource hours increased by 49% from 

FY 2006, which resulted in a 14% decrease from the baseline 

level. 

Ice Operations Resource Hours 

0 

2,000 

4,000 

6,000 

8,000 

10,000 

12,000 

14,000 

16,000 

18,000 

20,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Resource Hours 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. In FY 2007, the Ice 

Operations mission program successfully met its performance 

target. According to the Coast Guard, this was a result of cutter 

icebreaking efforts, particularly by the new USCGC MACKINAW. 

In FYs 2008 and 2009, the Coast Guard intends to implement 

recommendations from internal studies to preserve readiness during 

rehabilitation of its fleet of aging, 140 foot icebreaking tugs. 

Also, in FY 2008 a new measure will be added to measure the 

percentage of success in meeting requests for polar icebreaking. 

2

 In addition to domestic ice operations, the Coast Guard operates the only U.S.-controlled icebreakers 

capable of operations in the polar regions. The Coast Guard operates these cutters and is reimbursed for 

their operation and maintenance by the National Science Foundation. Resource hours for polar operations 

are included in the chart; however, only Coast Guard-directed domestic ice operations performance targets 

are measured. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 17 
Appendix A 

Non-Homeland Security Missions 

Non-Homeland Security Mission: Living Marine Resources 

This program’s mission is to provide effective and professional atsea enforcement of federal fisheries and other regulations to 

advance national goals for the conservation and management of 

Living Marine Resources and their environments. 

Resource Hours. After the events of September 11, 2001, 

resource hours for Living Marine Resources showed a significant 

decrease in FY 2002. Since FY 2002, resource hours have steadily 

increased each year to where FY 2007 levels are higher than the 

baseline and all previous years. 

Living Marine Resource Hours 

0 

20,000 

40,000 

60,000 

80,000 

100,000 

120,000 

Resource Hours 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Fiscal Year 

2005 2006 2007 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. In FY 2007, the domestic 

fisheries mission did not meet its performance target for the fourth 

straight year, in all years by less than 1%. According to Coast 

Guard officials, the primary reason for not meeting the 

performance target was that Coast Guard domestic fisheries 

enforcement uncovered significant regulatory compliance 

shortfalls in a number of Northeastern Atlantic fisheries. 

The Coast Guard advises that in FYs 2008 and 2009, performance 

will be temporarily affected by a reduction in available patrol 

boats, as these assets are taken out of service to undergo Mission 

Effectiveness Program enhancements. Coast Guard officials said 

that these effects will be short-term setbacks that will ultimately 

yield more sustained long-term performance as the legacy patrol 

boats return to service. They also said that offsetting this decline 

will be the addition of the first three new Maritime Patrol Aircraft, 

each of which will provide added monitoring and detection 

capabilities. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 18 
Appendix A 

Non-Homeland Security Missions 

Non-Homeland Security Mission: Marine Safety 

Marine Safety ensures the safe operation and navigation of U.S. 

and foreign flagged vessels. The mission is responsible for 

providing safe, efficient, and environmentally sound waterways for 

the myriad of commercial and recreational users. Domestic vessel 

inspections and port state control (foreign vessel) examinations are 

conducted in order to safeguard maritime commerce and 

international trade. 

Resource Hours. The Coast Guard did not report hours for this 

mission prior to 2005. Resource hours for Marine Safety 

decreased by approximately 28% from FY 2006.

 Marine Safety Resource Hours 

80000 

70000 

60000 

50000 

Hours 

40000 

rce 

30000 

Resou

20000 

10000 

0 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. According to the Coast 

Guard, the Marine Safety mission did not meet its FY 2007 

performance target because of the recent addition of untested 

performance targets for recreational boating injuries. In FY 2007, 

the Coast Guard partnered with state governments to increase 

personal flotation device use in high-risk recreational activities. 

Their efforts continue in FY 2008 and include new recreational 

boating initiatives such as ensuring manufacturer compliance with 

recreational boating standards. 

This measure is being retired for FY 2008 and replaced with three 

measures which will more closely link performance to goals. The 

new measures will report on the 5-year average number of: 

• Commercial mariner deaths and injuries; 

• Commercial passenger deaths and injuries; and 

• Recreational boating deaths and injuries. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 19 
Appendix A 

Non-Homeland Security Missions 

Non-Homeland Security Mission: Marine Environmental 

Protection 

The Marine Environmental Protection falls under the Coast 

Guard’s stewardship role and is concerned with averting the 

introduction of invasive species, stopping unauthorized ocean 

dumping, and preventing the discharge of oil or hazardous 

substances on the navigable waters of the United States. 

Resource Hours. The Coast Guard did not report resource hours 

prior to FY 2005. Resource hours have declined from FY 2005 to 

2007, with an overall 49% decrease during this timeframe. 

Marine Environmental Protection Resource Hours 

6000 

5000 

4000 

Resource Hours 3000 

2000 

1000 

0 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Fiscal Year 

2005 2006 2007 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. The performance target for 

this mission has been met since FY 2001. The Coast Guard 

attributes the continued success of this mission in FY 2007 to 

effective industry partnerships, joint federal agency exercises, and 

working to update a joint contingency plan between the United 

States and Mexico. 

The FY 2007 performance measure will be retired for FY 2008 and 

expanded to the following three separate measures in order to 

improve the ability to capture and record results: 

•	 5-year average number of oil spills per 100 million short 

tons shipped; 

•	 5-year average number of chemical discharge incidents per 

100 million short tons shipped; and 

•	 Percent of oil removed compared to the amount of oil 

released for reported spills of 100 gallons or more. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 20 
 

Appendix B 

Homeland Security Missions 

Homeland Security Missions – Total Resource Hours As 

Reported by Coast Guard 

Total resource hours for homeland security missions increased 

from the baseline and peaked in FY 2004. Resource hours 

decreased in FYs 2005 and 2006 before increasing in FY 2007. 

The FY 2007 level is significantly (238%) above baseline levels, 

as depicted in the chart below. 

Homeland Security Missions Resource Hours 

0 

50,000 

100,000 

150,000 

200,000 

250,000 

300,000 

350,000 

400,000 

450,000 

500,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Resource Hours 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

FY 2007 resource hours for some individual homeland security 

missions increased compared to FY 2006 while others decreased. 

Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security; Undocumented Migrant 

Interdiction; and Other Law Enforcement increased, while Drug 

Interdiction and Defense Readiness decreased. When comparing 

FY 2007 resource hours to the baseline, Ports, Waterways, and 

Coastal Security; Defense Readiness; Undocumented Migrant 

Interdiction; and Other Law Enforcement increased 1,039%, 

505%, 234%, and 16%, respectively, while Drug Interdiction 

decreased 39%. 

Homeland Security Performance Targets and Results. For 

FY 2007, the Coast Guard met four of five performance targets, as 

it did in FY 2006. The Defense Readiness mission has not been 

met in each year from FY 2001 through FY 2007 and the Coast 

Guard is not optimistic about meeting this performance target until 

Deepwater assets are fielded. 

Specific performance targets and results for each of the homeland 

security missions from FY 2001 through FY 2007 are summarized 

in Table 6. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 21 
 

Appendix B 

Homeland Security Missions 

Table 6 

Coast Guard Reported Homeland Security Missions Performance Targets and Results 

Homeland Security 

Missions 

FY 

2001 

FY 

2002 

FY

 2003 

FY 

2004 

FY 

2005 

FY 

2006 

FY 

2007 

Performance 

Measure 

Ports, 

Waterways, 

and Coastal 

Security 

Target No 

Measure 

No 

Measure 

No 

Measure 

No 

Measure 

Baseline 

Establ. 14% 15% 

Percent reduction in the 

Maritime terrorism risk 

over which the Coast 

Guard has influence Actual N/A N/A N/A N/A 3.4% 17% 15% 

Result N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 

�

Met 

�

Met 

Drug 

Interdiction 

Target 15% 18.7% 20.7% 15% 19% 22% 26% 

Removal rate of cocaine 

that is shipped via noncommercial maritime 

means Actual 11.7% 10.6% 16.3% 30.7% 27.3% 26% Est.* 

Result 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

Undocumented 

 Migrant 

Interdiction 

Target 87% 87% 87% 87% 88% 89% 91% 

Percent of 

undocumented migrants 

who attempt to enter the 

U.S. via maritime routes 

that are interdicted or 

deterred 

Actual 82.5% 88.3% 85.3% 87.1% 85.5% 89.1% 93.7% 

Result 

X 

Not Met 

�

Met 

X 

Not Met 

�

Met 

X 

Not Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

Defense 

Readiness 

Target 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 

Percentage of time that 

CG assets included in 

the Combatant 

Commander Operational 

Plans are ready at a 

status of Resources and 

Training System 

(SORTS) rating of 2 or 

better 

Actual 67% 70% 78% 76% 69% 62% 51% 

Result 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

Other Law 

Enforcement 

Target 202 202 202 202 200 199 199 

Number of incursions 

into the U.S. Exclusive 

Economic Zone 

Actual 212 250 152 247 171 164 119 

Result 

X 

Not Met 

X 

Not Met 

�

Met 

X 

Not Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

�

Met 

Subtotal: 

Homeland 

Security Goals 

Met 

0 of 4 1 of 4 1 of 4 2 of 4 2 of 4 4 of 5 4 of 5 

* The Coast Guard estimates meeting the performance target based on forecasted cocaine flows, which will be 

validated in the summer of 2008 with the publication of the Interagency Assessment of Cocaine Movement 

Report. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 


Page 22 

 

Appendix B 

Homeland Security Missions 

Homeland Security Mission: Ports, Waterways, and Coastal 

Security 

The Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security mission is to prevent 

and protect against maritime security threats, reduce America’s 

vulnerability to those threats, and minimize the adverse 

consequences of maritime security incidents that occur. 

Resource Hours. Resource hours for Ports, Waterways, and 

Coastal Security rapidly increased in response to the events of 

September 11, 2001, resulting in a 1,039% increase over baseline 

levels by FY 20073

 as shown in the chart below. Ports, 

Waterways, and Coastal Security is by far the largest user of 

resource hours of any Coast Guard mission. 

Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security Resource Hours 

0 

50,000 

100,000 

150,000 

200,000 

250,000 

300,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Resource Hours 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. The Coast Guard met its 

performance target for FY 2007, and Coast Guard officials credited 

interagency partnerships with much of the success. For example, 

in partnership with the Transportation Security Administration, the 

Coast Guard is implementing the Transportation Worker 

Identification Card and is responsible for establishing and 

enforcing card access control requirements at regulated vessels and 

facilities. The Coast Guard is also partnering with the Domestic 

Nuclear Detection Office to equip Coast Guard boarding teams 

with radiation detection equipment. 

3

Prior to FY 2001 and the subsequent formal establishment of the Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security 

program, resource hours were collected under a variety of categories that were used to establish the 

baseline. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 23 
Appendix B 

Homeland Security Missions 

Homeland Security Mission: Drug Interdiction 

The Coast Guard’s Drug Interdiction mission is key to combating 

the flow of illegal drugs to the United States. This mission is to 

reduce the supply of drugs from the source by denying smugglers 

the use of air and maritime routes in the Transit Zone, a six million 

square mile area that includes the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and 

Eastern Pacific. The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for 

maritime drug interdiction and shares responsibility for air 

interdiction with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

Resource Hours. As shown in the chart below, the Drug 

Interdiction mission FY 2007 resource hours decreased by 20% 

from FY 2006 and are 39% below baseline levels. According to 

Coast Guard officials, the decrease in Drug Interdiction resource 

hours is largely attributed to the shift in operational focus to the 

Transit Zone in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and deep Caribbean Sea 

where the Coast Guard has achieved record drug removals in 2 of 

the past 3 years. 

Drug Interdiction Resource Hours 

0 

20,000 

40,000 

60,000 

80,000 

100,000 

120,000 

140,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Resource Hours 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. For FY 2007, the Coast 

Guard estimates that it will meet its performance target based on 

forecasted cocaine flows, which will be validated in the summer of 

2008. The mission set a record in FY 2007 with 355,754 pounds 

of cocaine removed. The Coast Guard states that contributing 

factors to this success were: 1) Availability of actionable 

intelligence through close partnerships with Joint Interagency Task 

Force-South, and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task 

Force investigation Panama Express; 2) International cooperation 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 24 
 

Appendix B 

Homeland Security Missions 

and partnerships; and 3) Expanding Airborne Use of Force by 

U.S. Coast Guard marksmen on Navy helicopters. 

Homeland Security Mission: Undocumented Migrant 

Interdiction 

The Undocumented Migrant Interdiction mission responsibilities 

consist of enforcing immigration laws at sea. To fulfill its 

responsibilities, the Coast Guard conducts patrols and coordinates 

with other federal agencies and foreign countries to interdict 

undocumented migrants at sea, denying them entry via maritime 

routes to the United States, its territories, and its possessions. 

Resource Hours. Resource hours declined from FY 2005 to 

FY 2006 because of the decrease of available 110’ cutters and the 

removal of eight 123’ cutters from service. Coast Guard officials 

said that due to strategies to shift deployment vessels from other 

missions and increase the use of high speed interdiction boats, 

FY 2007 resource hours increased by 46% from FY 2006, resulting 

in a 234% increase over the baseline level. 

Undocumented Migrant Interdiction Resource Hours 

120,000 

100,000 

80,000 

Resource Hours 

60,000 

40,000 

20,000 

0 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Fiscal Year 

2005 2006 2007 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. The Coast Guard met its 

target for this mission in FY 2007, which Coast Guard officials 

attributed to vessel-on-vessel use of force tactics, high-speed 

interdiction boats, and increased use of biometric identification. 

In order to improve the ability to capture and record results, this 

measure will be retired for FY 2008 and replaced by a measure of 

the percent of undocumented migrants who are interdicted or 

deterred when attempting to enter the U.S. via maritime routes. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 25 
Appendix B 

Homeland Security Missions 

Homeland Security Mission: Defense Readiness 

The Defense Readiness mission is to provide essential capabilities 

to support national security and military strategies. Resource hours 

depict the execution of these defense missions, while the 

performance targets and results measure the Coast Guard’s 

readiness to perform the mission. 

Resource Hours. As shown in the chart below, resource hours for 

Defense Readiness reached their highest level in FY 2006. 

Resource hours decreased by 14% in FY 2007 from FY 2006, still 

resulting in a net 505% increase over baseline. 

Defense Readiness Resource Hours 

0 

5,000 

10,000 

15,000 

20,000 

25,000 

30,000 

35,000 

40,000 

45,000 

50,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Resource Hours 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. This performance measure 

has not been met from FY 2001 through FY 2007. The Coast 

Guard indicates that for FY 2007, readiness of Port Security Units 

was below standards. Coast Guard officials said that declining 

readiness of the aging legacy fleet limited asset availability to 

combatant commanders. The Coast Guard expects this trend to 

continue until new Deepwater assets (replacement vessels and 

aircraft) are fielded. 

In addition to the existing performance measure, and in order to 

improve the ability to capture and record results, the following two 

performance measures will be added for FY 2008: 

• Defense readiness of Port Security Units, and 

• Defense readiness of patrol boats. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 26 
Appendix B 

Homeland Security Missions 

Homeland Security Mission: Other Law Enforcement 

Other Law Enforcement is responsible for preventing illegal foreign 

fishing vessel encroachment in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.4 

This Coast Guard mission plays a vital role in protecting the 

integrity of our maritime borders and ensuring the health of United 

States fisheries. The Coast Guard focuses on three high-threat areas 

for illegal foreign incursions: the United States—Mexican border 

in Gulf of Mexico, the United States—Russian Maritime Boundary 

Line in the Bering Sea, and the eight non-contiguous Exclusive 

Economic Zones in the Western/Central Pacific. 

Resource Hours. As shown in the chart below, the resource hours 

for the Other Law Enforcement mission were below baseline in 

every year except FY 2007. The greatest numbers of resource 

hours were recorded in FY 2007, measuring 16% above baseline. 

Other Law Enforcement Resource Hours 

0 

1,000 

2,000 

3,000 

4,000 

5,000 

6,000 

7,000 

8,000 

9,000 

10,000 

Baseline 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Resource Hours 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard Reported Data 

Performance Targets and Results. In FY 2007, for the third year 

in a row, the Coast Guard met this performance target. According 

to Coast Guard officials, foreign fisheries enforcement efforts were 

notably successful in working with the Department of State to 

engage Central American Governments in ensuring that their 

fishing fleets honor U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone restrictions in 

the Pacific Ocean. 

4

 An Exclusive Economic Zone generally extends to a distance of 200 nautical miles (370 km) out from its 

coast. Within the Exclusive Economic Zone, the coastal state has sovereign rights for the purpose of 

exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing natural resources, both living and nonliving, of the seabed, 

subsoil, and the subjacent waters and, with regard to other activities, for the economic exploitation and 

exploration of the zone. The U.S. has the largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, encompassing 

over 2.25 million square miles and 90,000 miles of coast line. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 27 
 

Appendix C 

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 

Section 888 (f) (1) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 directs 

the Inspector General to conduct an annual assessment of the Coast 

Guard’s performance of all its missions, with a particular emphasis 

on non-homeland security missions. The objective of this review 

was to determine the extent that resource hours and performance 

results and targets for each Coast Guard mission have changed 

from prior to September 11, 2001, through FY 2007. 

We reviewed the following GAO testimonies: 

•	 Coast Guard Observations on the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget, 

Recent Performance, and Related Challenges, 

GAO-08-494T, March 6, 2008; 

•	 Coast Guard Deepwater Program Management Initiatives 

and Key Homeland Security Missions, GAO-08-531T, 

March 5, 2008; 

•	 Coast Guard Preliminary Observations on Deepwater 

Program Assets and Management Challenges, 

GAO-07-446T, February 15, 2007; 

•	 Coast Guard Efforts to Improve Management and Address 

Operational Challenges in the Deepwater Program, 

GAO-07-460T, February 14, 2007; and 

•	 Coast Guard Observations on the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget, 

Performance, Reorganization, and Related Challenges, 

GAO-07-489T, April 18, 2007. 

We analyzed the total number of resource hours reported by the 

Coast Guard prior to September 11, 2001, through FY 2007. We 

did not attempt to verify the resource hour data, nor did we attempt 

to validate whether the Coast Guard had accurately classified such 

data. We assessed total resource hours for the 11 individual Coast 

Guard missions to identify the changes in each. 

We analyzed performance measures and targets to determine 

whether the targets for each of the Coast Guard’s missions had 

been accomplished. We obtained information on performance 

from the Department of Homeland Security Annual Performance 

Report, Fiscal Years 2007-2009. We also reviewed the FY 2009 

President’s Budget Request Strategic Context Congressional 

Submission for the U.S. Coast Guard. Lastly, we held discussions 

with Coast Guard officials to obtain information on why the Coast 

Guard did not meet its performance targets for certain missions. 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 28 
Appendix C 

Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 

We conducted our review between March and May 2008 under the 

authority of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, and 

according to the Quality Standards for Inspections, issued by the 

Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency 

(CIGIE). 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 29 
Appendix D 

Management Comments to the Draft Report 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 


Page 30 

Appendix D 

Management Comments to the Draft Report 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 


Page 31 

Appendix D 

Management Comments to the Draft Report 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 


Page 32 

Appendix D 

Management Comments to the Draft Report 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 


Page 33 

Appendix D 

Management Comments to the Draft Report 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 


Page 34 

Appendix D 

Management Comments to the Draft Report 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 


Page 35 

Appendix E 

Major Contributors to this Report 

Michael Siviy, Director 

Barry Russell, Audit Manager 

Michael Brunelle, Auditor in Charge 

Gary Alvino, Referencer 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 36 
Appendix F 

Report Distribution 

Department of Homeland Security 

Secretary 

Deputy Secretary 

Chief of Staff 

Deputy Chief of Staff 

General Counsel 

Executive Secretary 

Director, GAO/OIG Audit Liaison 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Policy 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Public Affairs 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Legislative Affairs 

USCG Audit Liaison 

Office of Management and Budget 

Chief, Homeland Security Branch 

DHS OIG Budget Examiner 

Congress 

Congressional Oversight and Appropriations Committees, as 

appropriate 

Annual Review of the United States Coast Guard’s Mission Performance (FY 2007) 

Page 37 
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