Coast Guard Art Program

2020 Collection

Presented by the United States Coast Guard and the Salmagundi Club

2019 George Gray Award Recipient 

Inaugural Exhibition: June 30—August 7, 2020

Salmagundi Club, New York City

Guardians of the Puerto Rican Coast

by Robert Selby

Oil triptych 
Cover:

Guardians of the Puerto Rican Coast

Robert Selby

2019 George Gray Award Recipient for Artistic Excellence

Oil triptych

4 x 2 feet

Colton, N.Y.

The crew depicted in the center panel is aboard the small boat of Fast Response Cutter Joseph 

Tezanos as the crew transfers illegal migrants to the Dominican Navy off the coast of the Dominican Republic. On the right, a female service member stands watch as the cutter approaches Mona Island. On the left, a male service member stands watch as the cutter exits San Juan 

harbor.

Coast Guard Art Collection 201924

Note: The triptych is accompanied by an artist sketchbook which can be seen at 

https://coastguard.dodlive.mil/20018/09/the-tezanos-sketchbook//

About the Artist

Robert Selby enjoyed a 20-year career as a staff illustrator at The Providence Journal. During 

that time, he was the recipient of numerous awards including a Fulbright Grant to research 

the history of caricature in Spain. Following this, he embarked on a career as a freelance illustrator, painter and sculptor. He has taught at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, 

the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence and the Champlain College in Burlington, Vt. 

His art career has garnered awards and recognition from The Associated Press, the Society of 

Illustrators in New York and the Society of Newspaper Design. In 2013, Robert got underway 

aboard the Cutter Healy as it deployed to the Arctic where the artist documented the crew's 

activities and missions. In 2018, once again the artist was selected for deployment, this 

time getting underway aboard the Cutter Joseph Tezanos, homeported in San Juan. 

Commandant (CG-09232)

U.S. Coast Guard

2703 Martin Luther King, Ave. S.E.

STOP 7103

Washington, D.C. 20593-7103

(202) 372-4643

MaryAnn.Bader@uscg.mil

The U.S. Coast Guard and its art program thank the New York Council Navy League of the 

United States for the invaluable support and interest it has provided for years. The Service 

is indebted to the League and honored by its assistance.
About the Coast Guard Art Program

The Coast Guard Art Program (COGAP) uses fine art as an outreach tool for educating diverse audiences about the Coast Guard. Today, more than ever, the Service addresses an abundance of challenges 

as it works to maintain the nation’s security at home and abroad and executes its statutory missions. 

COGAP art provides visual testimony to the unique contribution the Service makes to the nation in its 

multifaceted roles as a military, humanitarian and law enforcement organization. Art from the program is exhibited at museums around the country. It is displayed in the offices of members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, senior government officials and other military services and Coast Guard locations nationwide. It has also been displayed by the State Department in its prestigious Art in Embassies 

program.

Today, the collection holds over 2,000 works that capture the myriad missions the 43,330 active-duty 

men and women of the Coast Guard perform daily, including homeland security, search and rescue, 

marine environmental protection, drug interdiction, national defense and natural resource management. Paintings and drawings bring to life the work performed by the Coast Guard and are visual testimony to the Service’s contributions to the country.

The 2020 collection is comprised of 31 works by 22 artists. Eight are the result of artist deployments to 

missions underrepresented in the collection. Among mission areas and units captured during these 

deployments are the Maritime Law Enforcement Academy in Charleston, S.C., and HITRON, the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron based in Florida and Air Station Washington, D.C. Other new 

works highlight patrols and inspections, rescue missions, training exercises, living marine resources, 

illegal drug interdiction and the unsung heroes who help make the Service strong. All these works are 

generously donated by COGAP members, most of whom are professional artists. 

About the Salmagundi Club, COGAP’s partner organization

Since 1981, the Salmagundi Club has been a sponsor of the Coast Guard Art Program. In the course of 

its 140-plus history, it has served as a center for artists from New York and around the country. It 

offers exhibitions of paintings, sculpture and photography; conducts art classes and painting demonstrations and holds auctions of member artists’ work throughout the year. This is done in an atmosphere that encourages discussions on art and other topics and leads to lasting friendships among both 

artist and patron members. Although members are mainly residents of the greater New York City metropolitan area, Salmagundians can be found throughout the United States and Canada, as well as cities 

overseas including London, Amsterdam and Lisbon.

Originally formed as the New York Sketch Club in 1871, the club adopted its present name over 100 

years ago from Washington Irving’s Salmagundi Papers, a satirical and urbane periodical he coauthored.

Through the years, the club has been the gathering place for important artists such as Childe Hassam, 

William Merritt Chase, Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth, Charles Dana Gibson, Ogden Pleisner and many others. Honorary members have included Sir Winston Churchill, Buckminster Fuller, Paul Cadmus, Al 

Hirschfeld, Thomas Hoving and Schuyler Chapin.

The Salmagundi Club is located in a historic brownstone at 47 Fifth Avenue, between 11th and 12th 

Streets. To learn more about the club, please visit its website at www.salmagundi.org.

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The George Gray Award

Named for the co-founder of the Coast Guard Art Program, the George Gray Award recognizes Coast Guard 

artists for outstanding artistic achievement. One artist 

from the 2020 collection of contributors will be named 

recipient of this award.

George Gray worked as an artist for more than seven 

decades. A muralist and illustrator, he specialized in 

historical and military themes. Love of country compelled him to enlist in the Coast Guard during World 

War II. During the Vietnam War, he spent six weeks 

sketching Marines in action for the U.S. Navy’s fine art 

program. He co-founded COGAP in the early 1980s and 

served as its chairman and tireless champion for over 

20 years. Born in Harrisburg, Pa., in 1907, he is a direct 

descendent of Capt. Robert Gray, who, in 1788, became 

the first American to carry the nation’s flag around the 

world. He died in 2004 at the age of 96. George Gray, drawing by James Dyekman, 

1992

Jurors for the George Gray Award

Captain Jason Tama has been commanding officer of the Port of New York & New Jersey and the Port 

of Albany since June 2018. He is also Officer in Charge of Marine Inspection, Federal Maritime Security 

Coordinator, Search & Rescue Mission Coordinator, and Federal On Scene Coordinator for the over 

6,000 square miles that constitute Sector New York’s area of responsibility. He is a Marine Safety, Security, and Environmental Protection specialist whose previous operational assignments include Operations Officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Mariposa, Marine Inspector at Marine Safety Office Puget 

Sound, Chief of Waterways Management at Sector Puget Sound, and Chief of Prevention at Sector San 

Francisco. Staff assignments included Naval Architect and Marine Salvage Engineer at the Marine Safety Center and Deputy Budget Director in the Office of Budget and Programs at Coast Guard Headquarters. Captain Tama holds a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the Coast Guard Academy, a 

Master’s of Engineering in Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master’s of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management. 

He is an MIT Sloan Fellow, Brookings Institution Federal Executive Fellow, Marshall Memorial Fellow, 

and White House Fellows National Finalist. While at the Brookings Institution, he researched emerging 

threats to the nation’s Military-Industrial Complex and his work appeared in multiple publications. 

Elizabeth Spencer, Salmagundi Club president, has served as the club’s first vice president, chair of the 

jury awards, on the board of directors and as a member of the art committee. She is a gifted artist who 

works in oil, watercolor and pastel and has won numerous awards in all three mediums. Her work is 

held in collections in the U.S., Europe and the Far East. The artist teaches painting and color theory 

privately and a popular painting and drawing class at the Salmagundi Club. 

Peter Trippi is editor-in-chief of Fine Art Connoisseur. Previously, he directed New York’s Dahesh Museum of Art and earlier held senior posts at the Brooklyn Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art. A cocurator of numerous exhibitions at prestigious museums, Mr. Trippi has written and published extensively. He is currently president of the Association of Historians of Nineteenth-Century Art and of the 

Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation. He is the former chair of the Courtauld Institute of Art’s U.S. Alumni Group and past president of Historians of British Art.

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Coast Guard: Saving lives in a hurry

Rescue near Galveston

John Ward

Acrylic

16 x 31 inches

Saranac Lake, N.Y.

An Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter aircrew rescues a 58-year-old man from an oil tanker 50 miles 

south of Galveston, Texas. The captain of the tanker requested a Coast Guard medevac after the victim—a tanker crewmember—experienced symptoms of a heart attack. The Coast Guard is recognized worldwide as a leader 

in the field of search and rescue. 

Coast Guard Art Collection 202031

Direct hoist

Fred J. Feiler

Oil

12 x 18 inches

Oneonta, N.Y.

A Boatswain’s Mate aboard 

a 47-foot motor lifeboat 

watches for boat traffic as 

crew from Air Station Cape 

Cod practices a rescue. The 

crew of the medium range 

rescue MH-60T Jayhawk 

helicopter will lower the 

rescue basket to take the 

victim to safety.

Coast Guard Art Collection 

202011

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Searching for victims of Hurricane 

Florence

Leendert van der Pool

Oil

24 x 18 inches

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Coast Guard crewmembers from Sector Lower Mississippi River search for 

stranded victims of Hurricane Florence 

in Jones County, N.C. The category 

four hurricane caused widespread devastation particularly in the Carolinas 

due to torrential rain and flooding. 

Coast Guard teams were prepositioned in flood-prone zones to 

better respond. Minimizing loss of life, 

injury, and property damage by rendering aid to persons in distress and 

property is a top priority.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202029

Coast Guard cutter swimmer

MK2 Jasen Newman

Oil

16 x 20 inches

Port Angeles, Wash.

A cutter surface swimmer gets 

assistance climbing the Jacob's 

ladder of the Coast Guard Cutter 

Active. Volunteers to the cutter 

swimmer program utilize their 

strong swimming abilities to assist 

shipmates who may have fallen 

overboard and other hapless victims. 

Coast Guard Art Collection 202024

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Maritime Law Enforcement Academy: On assignment

Rescue: Hurricane Dorian

Anne Kullaf

Oil

11 x 14 inches

Philadelphia, Pa.

Coast Guard crew load a victim of 

Hurricane Dorian onto a helicopter 

in the Bahamas. The Coast Guard 

sent MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters 

and health service technicians to 

aid the stricken nation in 2019. 

The category five storm was considered the worst natural disaster 

to ever strike the Bahamas with 

the actual number of deaths unknown and damages estimated 

over $3.4 billion.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202020

In the fall of 2019 Karen Loew was selected for 

deployment to the Maritime Law Enforcement 

Academy in Charleston, S.C., where she viewed 

and documented cross-training exercises 

between the Coast Guard and Canadian law enforcement units. The only military service with 

domestic law enforcement capability, the Coast 

Guard is the lead federal agency for maritime law 

enforcement. The paintings here depict a day in 

the life at the Academy.

Cross-border maritime operations

Karen Loew

Oil

16 x 12 inches

New York, N.Y.

Members of Canadian law enforcement agencies 

train alongside U.S. Coast Guard members at the 

Maritime Law Enforcement Academy in Charleston, S.C. They are learning United States and 

Canadian boarding procedures for the Integrated 

Cross-border Maritime Law Enforcement Program. The Canadian officer makes contact by 

hand-held VHF radio to crew on the training boat 

platform M/V—Motor Vessel— Serenity Now.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202021

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Take it to the mat

Karen Loew

Oil

12 x 12 inches

An instructor looks on as Coast Guard 

crewmembers practice defense and control techniques at the Maritime Law Enforcement Academy in Charleston, S.C. 

Each member learns how to instruct others, so that when the member returns to 

their unit, he or she can teach members 

in their unit. This day's exercises taught 

protection of both self and weapon. 

Coast Guard Art Collection 202022

Arrested!

Karen Loew

Oil

18 x 14 inches

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard and Royal 

Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) conduct a 

joint cross-border mock boarding training 

exercise aboard the M/V—Motor Vessel—

Bostwick in simulated Canadian waters. In 

this exercise, an RCMP officer takes the lead 

in an arrest for a violation of the Canadian 

Controlled Drug and Substance Act.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202023

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The Unsung

Although missions such as search and 

rescue and boating safety are well 

known by the public, other less heralded 

work is also mission critical. Here are a 

few of these missions and the members 

who perform them.

Adding fuel to the fire

Susanne Corbelletta

Oil

30 x 24 inches

Glen Head, N.Y.

An assistant fire chief at the Coast Guard 

Fire and Rescue Department, Base Kodiak, Alaska, ignites the fire pit before simulating aircraft fire training. Underwater 

pipes pump fuel to the center of the pit, 

which serves as the training ground. The 

department has been in service since 

1993. It is equipped for complete aircraft rescue and structural fire response 

and also has life support emergency response personnel.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202005

It’s the fuel line

Oscar Romero

Oil

14 x 20 inches

Sacramento, Calif.

Coast Guard crewmembers work to 

repair the fuel line of an HC-271 

Spartan aircraft in the hangar at Air 

Station Sacramento. The station, 

commissioned in 1978, is located at 

the north end of McClellan Airfield 

and was established as an outgrowth of Air Station San Francisco.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202026

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Engine room on the Sockeye

John Deckert

Oil

16 x 20 inches

Santa Rosa, Calif.

A Coast Guard service member stands vigilant in the engine room of the 87-foot 

Coast Guard Cutter Sockeye. 

The cutter is homeported in 

Bodega Bay, Calif. A coastal 

patrol boat, the cutter’s missions include search and rescue, law enforcement, environmental protection, and 

homeland security.

Coast Guard Art Collection 

202007

Routine maintenance

J.C. Jim Smith

Mixed medium

10 x 16 inches

McMinnville, Ore.

A Coast Guard crewmember performs maintenance on an MH-65D Dolphin helicopter assigned to the Service’s air facility at Newport, Ore. The facility is part of Coast Guard Air Station North Bend, which also 

includes six motor lifeboat stations, an Aids to Navigation team and the Coast Guard Cutter Orcas. 

Coast Guard Art Collection 202027

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Practice and training make perfect

Surf drill practice

John Deckert

Oil

18 x 24 inches

Santa Rosa, Calif.

A motor lifeboat crew practices surf entry drills off Salman 

Creek Beach near Coast Guard 

Station Bodega Bay, Calif. 

These boats must be able to 

navigate heavy wave conditions like those shown here. 

Surfmen are among the Service’s most proficient small 

boat operators. There are 19 

designated surf stations in the 

Coast Guard, with the majority 

being on the Pacific Coast. 

Coast Guard Art Collection 

202006

By dawn’s early light

Dennis Boom

Oil

18 x 24 inches

Hillsboro, Ore.

A Coast Guard Air Station 

Miami aircrew prepares 

for a training flight at Opalocka Executive Airport in 

Opa-locka, Fla. The air 

station operates a fleet of 

five MH-65D helicopters 

and five HC-144 Ocean 

Sentry aircraft.

Coast Guard Art Collection 

202003

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Coast Guard patrols and inspection

Inspection call

MST3 Thomas Unger

Coffee

16 x 20 inches

New Bern, N.C.

A Marine Safety Detachment Port 

State Control examiner, based in 

Fort Macon near Nags Head, N.C., 

communicates to a freight vessel 

crewmember, asking him to run the 

engine of the vessel’s lifeboat. Inspections aim to prevent accidents 

and promote vessel safety. In one 

year alone, the Coast Guard in 

North Carolina conducted over 340 

such inspections.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202028

Coast Guard Cutter Spar

Chuck Van Horn

Watercolor

13 x 21 inches

Glen Head, N.Y.

Crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Spar services a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather data 

buoy in the Bering Sea during a summer Arctic and Bering Sea patrol. The cutter, known as the Aleutian Keeper, 

is a 225-foot oceangoing buoy tender homeported in Kodiak, Alaska. Its many missions include ice breaking, environmental protection, maritime law enforcement and search and rescue.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202030

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on prevention and response in support of maritime safety, security and mobility, protection of natural 

resources and national defense. The Port of New York/New Jersey is the third largest U.S. port and 

boasts the largest civilian population in a U.S. port area.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202001

Take a right at the light

Dennis Boom

Oil

15 x30 inches

Hillsboro, Ore.

An MH-65C Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Los Angeles conducts a flyover of the Point Vicente 

Lighthouse. Construction on the 67-foot lighthouse began in 1926. North of Los Angeles Harbor, it is located between Point Conception Lighthouse to the north and Point Loma Lighthouse to the south. 

Coast Guard Art Collection 202004

Homeland security

Daven Anderson

Oil

38 x 42 inches

St. Louis, Mo.

A Coast Guard medium response boat from Sector New 

York is shown trailing a Staten 

Island ferry. The Coast Guard 

maintains a high state of vigilance in New York Harbor. 

The Sector command focuses

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Maritime security abroad

MSRT West deploys in the Yellow Sea

Amy Digi

Oil

18 x 20 inches

Yonkers, N.Y.

The Maritime Security Response Team 

(MSRT) West participates in a multihazard exercise aboard the Coast Guard 

Cutter Stratton as it deploys in Asia’s 

Yellow Sea. The team is trained not 

only in multi-hazard detection but in 

boarding and securing vessels and close 

quarters combat. 

Coast Guard Art Collection 202008

Working with the 

Gambian Navy

Frank Gaffney

Oil

16 x 20 inches

Mountlake Terrace, Wash.

A Coast Guard maritime enforcement officer works with a member of the Gambian Navy to treat a simulated 

wound while conducting training in Banjul, Gambia. The training, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command, aims to 

improve regional cooperation, maritime domain awareness, information sharing and tactical interdiction expertise with Gulf of Guinea and West African nations.

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Interdiction: Illegal drugs

Semi-sub surfing

Hugh O’Connor

Watercolor and pencil

10 x 21 inches

St. Clair Shores, Mich.

Crew from the Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk overtakes a semi-submersible drug-running boat—also called gofasts—operating in 

the Pacific Ocean. 

The Coast Guard 

coordinates closely 

with other federal 

agencies and countries within a vast six 

million square-mile 

region to disrupt 

and deter the flow 

of illegal drugs.

Coast Guard Art 

Collection 202025

Valiant effort

 Tom Hedderich

 Watercolor

 10 x 16 inches

 Westtown, N.Y.

Coast Guard 

boarding team 

members from 

the Cutter Valiant climb aboard a suspected smuggling vessel. Crew intercepted a drug-laden 40-foot selfpropelled semi-submersible in the Eastern Pacific Ocean carrying approximately 12,000 pounds of cocaine with 

a street value of more than $165 million. Four suspected smugglers were apprehended. The Coast Guard is 

the first line of defense against drug smugglers trying to bring illegal substances into the U.S. Annually, Coast 

Guard drug interdiction accounts for more than half of all U.S. government seizures of cocaine.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202014

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Protecting living marine resources

Sea lion Franklin

Acacia Anglin

Watercolor

14 x 10 inches

Port Angeles, Wash.

Coast Guard service members work with a team 

from the Pacific Marine Mammal Center to release Franklin, a sea lion, from the Coast Guard 

Cutter Edisto, near Catalina Island in California. 

Protecting the delicate ecosystem of the oceans 

is a vital Coast Guard mission. The Coast Guard 

develops and enforces regulations to avert the 

introduction of invasive species into the maritime environment, stops unauthorized ocean 

dumping, and prevents oil and chemical spills.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202002

Cutter Bertholf seizes cocaine

James Dyekman

Watercolor

16 x 24 inches

Chesapeake, Md.

Boarding teams from the Cutter Bertholf interdict a go-fast vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, seizing more than 

3,100 pounds of cocaine. Go-fast vessels are designed to smuggle large amounts of contraband while evading 

detection by law enforcement due to their camouflaged appearance and low profile. Stopping the flow of illegal 

drugs into the U.S. is one way in which the Coast Guard serves the nation.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202010

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Helicopter operations and maintenance up close

With his own resources, artist 

Richard Johnson traveled to 

Coast Guard air stations in the 

Washington, D.C., metro area 

and Jacksonville, Fla., to draw 

crewmembers from life as they 

performed their missions there.

Up to the elbow

Richard Johnson

Pencil

10 x 16 inches

Mount Airy, Md.

A crewmember of Air Station Washington performs routine service on the engine of a helicopter. Crew regularly scrambles to intercept aircraft that stray into restricted airspace at such locations as the White House and the 

Capitol. The station is located at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport just outside Washington, D.C., in 

Arlington, Va.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202015

Scramble prep

Richard Johnson

Pencil

18 x 30 inches

Air Station Washington helicopter pilots regularly patrol 

the Metro area including the 

Potomac River and restricted 

airspace around locations 

such as the Capitol. Here a 

pilot conducts a preflight 

check to ensure all systems 

are operational.

Coast Guard Art Collection 

202016

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Force from above

Richard Johnson

Pencil

16 x 10 inches

HITRON—the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron based in Jacksonville, Fla.,—

forward deploys armed helicopters to high 

threat drug trafficking and high risk security areas. Here a gunner's mate trains his 

rifle on a go-fast boat with suspected drug 

smugglers. Signals, radio calls, and warning shots are used to halt suspected vessels and to avoid injury. HITRON members undergo rigorous training. Crews are 

often embarked on cutters patrolling the 

Drug Transit Zone, a six-million square 

mile area including the Caribbean, Gulf of 

Mexico and Eastern Pacific. This work 

bears the name of the squadron’s motto.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202017

Team work

Richard Johnson

Pencil

18 x 25 inches

Crew work on the systems of a 

MH-65C Dolphin helicopter to 

maintain its readiness. The helicopter, housed in the HITRON 

hangar in Jacksonville, Fla., is an 

important tool in the fight against 

contraband. Arrayed on the 

walls are dozens of drug-boat 

outboard engine casings which 

were fired on by Coast Guard 

gunners.

Coast Guard Art Collection 

202019

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A boost to morale

Christmas pennant

Sandra Hart

Acrylic

24 x 20 inches

Arlington Heights, Ill.

The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw delivers Christmas trees to Chicago from 

Northern Michigan for distribution to 

underprivileged families in the area. The 

practice of bringing trees to Chicago by 

boat was started in the 1880s by owners 

of the Rouse Simmons, the original 

Christmas ship. The ship sank in 1912 

and the practice of bringing trees was 

resumed by the Coast Guard. The Mackinaw takes the same route as the Rouse 

Simmons and stops at the shipwreck site 

to commemorate the original vessel and 

its crew with a wreath-laying ceremony. 

For two decades the Coast Guard has 

been performing this mission.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202013

Dirty work

Richard Johnson

Pencil

16 x 10 inches

Two AMTs—Aviation Maintenance Technicians, the Service’s aircraft surgeons—replace 

landing gear components on an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter. The helicopter is part of the 

Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron 

(HITRON) based in Jacksonville, Fla. Among 

its various missions, the squadron regularly 

interdicts smugglers’ attempts to bring contraband into the U.S.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202018

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The band plays on...

Backstage on the tuba

James Dyekman

Pencil

19 x 25 inches

Chesapeake, Md.

A Coast Guard senior chief musician warms up backstage on the tuba before a Coast Guard Band concert. The Band tours in the U.S. and overseas, representing the men and women of the Coast Guard 

and serving as musical ambassadors. Smaller ensembles such as the Band’s Woodwind Quintet frequently perform at schools to educate children and young adults about such topics as math, science, 

music and the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202009

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About the Coast Guard

The U.S. Coast Guard stands “Always Ready” to safeguard the most robust and complex 

maritime operating environment in the world. America’s maritime operating domain 

comprises 95,000 miles of coastline and 25,000 miles of inland waters, serves 361 commercial ports, and carries more than 90 percent of our nation’s critical resources and 

goods. This marine transportation system (MTS) facilitates $5 trillion of economic activity 

each year, including carrying more than 100 million ferry passengers and supporting more 

than 30 million recreational boating households. It is also essential to U.S. strategic requirements, as our military depends heavily on the MTS to move approximately 90 percent of its supplies and equipment overseas on U.S. Military Sealift Command, or other 

U.S.-flagged and crewed vessels. Our MTS, focused domestically but interconnected globally, is vital to U.S. and world safety and prosperity.

The Commandant’s Three Guiding Principles

Admiral Karl L. Schultz, 26th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard

Ready

Semper Paratus, “Always Ready,” is

more than a motto. It is our core

purpose.

Relevant

Serving our nation’s current and

emerging needs is both a privilege and

a calling.

Responsive

The Coast Guard is an agile and

adaptive problem solver, with a bias

for action.