National Strategy For Maritime Security News

Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations Supervisory Air Interdiction Officer Ali Baig recognized for promoting regional maritime securityThe National  Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) Executive Steering Committee annual national level “MDA ESC Excellence Award for 2021 for law enforcement was presented to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations Supervisory Air Interdiction Officer Ali Baig of the Jacksonville Air and Marine Branch. The recognition…

Statement by NSC Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden on the National Maritime Domain Awareness Plan emphasizes the importance of maritime security in the global supply chain. Hayden said recently in a prepard statement, "The White House has released the National Maritime Domain Awareness Plan. This plan promotes global maritime security and prosperity through improved governance to support the effective understanding of the maritime domain. He added, "Consistent with Presidential Policy Directive 18: Maritime Security (PPD-18) and the National Strategy for Maritime Security (NSMS), the National Maritime Domain Awareness Plan merges and supersedes the National Plan to Achieve Maritime Domain Awareness and the Global Maritime Intelligence Integration Plan…

Statement on Piracy by CG Commandant, Adm. Piracy has been rightfully called an insult to civilization. The recent pirate attacks on the motor vessels Maersk Alabama and Liberty Sun focused the attention of the American public on what has been an increasingly significant international issue. It is important that the American public and the international community know that the U.S. Government is working hard to find an enduring international solution to this international problem. Maritime piracy is a symptom of instability in Somalia. The only long-term solution must address piracy’s root causes in Somalia itself: political instability and lack of economic opportunity. The U.S. supports a reconstituted Somalia with lawful control over its entire territory.

On December 21, 2004, President Bush signed the National Strategy for Maritime Security (HSPD-13). Now, working groups from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security have prepared draft implementation plans for various aspects of the strategy. Stakeholder input is sought with regard to: Maritime Transportation System Security (MTSS); Maritime Commerce Security (MCS); and Maritime Infrastructure Recovery (MIR). The Maritime Security Policy is a work in progress, with strategy and implementing requirements being developed in tandem. Stakeholder input now is important so that things come out right the first time.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen and Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Thomas H. Collins jointly approved a new National Fleet policy statement in early March aimed at strengthening Navy-Coast Guard cooperation and tailored operational integration of each service’s multimission platforms, infrastructure and personnel. Building on more than two centuries of close collaboration and joint operations in peace and war, this firm commitment to shared purpose directly supports the new National Strategy for Maritime Security approved by President Bush this past September. “Security of the maritime domain can be accomplished only by seamlessly employing all instruments of national power in a fully coordinated manner,” the strategy states.

The following is a statement, in its entirety, from Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen regarding his nomination to be commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, given before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. Washington - Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Committee. I am honored to be before you today and look forward to listening to your views and answering your questions. I am grateful for the confidence of President Bush in nominating me to be the 23rd Commandant of the United States Coast Guard. I can think of no greater honor and no better way to continue serving our Nation than through our Coast Guard, a Service whose embedded responsibilities impact every American.

The Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure conducted a field hearing on the National Strategy for Maritime Security. The purpose of the hearing, held in Camden, New Jersey, was to continue oversight of federal programs intended to enhance security in the maritime domain. RADM Craig Bone, USCG and Mr. Mark O. Hatfield, Jr., TSA, testified that maritime security encompasses threats from all criminal or hostile acts and involves collection of information relating to all aspects of maritime activities. Mr. William Boles, Director of Security, Port of Wilmington, Delaware, testified regarding the challenges and successes of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. Ms.

Next to the close relationship the Navy shares with the Marine Corps, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Adm. Mike Mullen said he considers the Navy's continuing partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard as the "single most critical relationship we can possibly have when it comes to securing the maritime domain," during his speech at the 18th Annual Suface Navy Association National Syposium Jan. 10. "We talk a lot about the Navy-Marine Corps Team, and we should," Mullen told the audience. He said that the two services have worked well together recently, particularly on intercept and drug smuggling operations, and have improved maritime domain awareness with the establishment of the Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center in Norfolk, Va., and Alameda, Calif.

The U.S. Department of State issued a Media Note stating that the Secretary of State recently signed the International Coordination and Outreach Strategy to Enhance Maritime Security . This document, which is one of eight supporting plans under the National Strategy for Maritime Security, provides a framework to coordinate all maritime security initiatives undertaken with foreign governments and international organizations, and solicits international support for enhanced maritime security. Source: HK Law

Government Technology is reporting that the Department of Homeland Security announced the release of the Maritime Infrastructure Recovery Plan, one of eight plans supporting the National Strategy for Maritime Security. Key elements of the plan include guidelines for coordinated, national-level efforts to restore the flow of cargo and passenger vessels in response to a major disruption to the maritime transportation system. The plan also describes an exercise program that would be conducted periodically to assess the plan's effectiveness and the maritime community's ability to plan for, respond to, and recover from a national transportation security incident or incident of national significance.

The Coast Guard, partnered with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies as well as many of the key port players, exercised risk management strategies aimed at protecting the city and the Port of Memphis. The exercise was led by the DHS Protective Security Advisor for the Memphis District, Mr. Greg Innis. The exercise participants included representatives from Coast Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Office of Homeland Security, Tennessee and Shelby County Emergency Management Agencies, Memphis Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff's Department, U.S. Attorney's Office, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, the Port Commission, Railroad Police and many local facility security officers.

The Coast Guard Atlantic Area, Navy Second Fleet and the FBI are participating in Exercise Frontier Sentinel June 12-14 approximately 90 nautical miles east of Oregon Inlet, N.C. In particular, the exercise will gauge the effectiveness of inter-service cooperation at the tactical and operational levels. These functions are crucial to the successful implementation of "layered security," a strategy called for in the United States' National Strategy for Maritime Security. In order to test the effectiveness of doctrine and to increase the familiarity with one another and their respective roles, these partners must practice together in as-close-to-realistic scenarios as possible.