Coast Guard Advances its Arctic Readiness in 2015, Challenges Remain

In  2015, as the United States assumed its two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the high-level intergovernmental forum for the region, the US Coast Guard planned and executed a number of initiatives to advance maritime safety, security, and stewardship mission readiness in the Arctic. Yet the failure of Congress to provide the level of support necessary for the Coast Guard to adequately recapitalize its small and aging polar icebreaker fleet casts doubt on the service's ability to fully meet its mandate to provide year-round, assured access and self-rescue in the polar regions. Hopefully, that trend will be reversed in the coming years. more