Underfunding the US Coast Guard

[garymalmgren]

RE: the 2025 financial year in which the agency requested $709 million but was only allocated $167 million by Congress.

GAO: USCG’s Shore Maintenance Infrastructure Backlog Has Ballooned to $7B

Failure by the U.S. Coast Guard to invest in maintaining and renewing its crumpling shore infrastructure and a lack of funding from the U.S. Congress...

www.maritime-executive.com

 

[justsomeguy]

Hey, it'll be like the good ol' days.

 

[jssailem]

Such issues are often based on years of senior management priorities.

The DOD has learned that it is easier to get money from Congress for new magical projects than to deal with the infrastructure that keeps everything operating. It is just not sexy to talk about infrastructure.

It is not unlike the prioritization of transportation funds. Ask for funds to develop exciting new electrical charging systems while ignoring the potholes and bridge abutments past their life expectancy.

The CG has taken a page from the DOD playbook and expanded its operators and the tasks they perform because funding was available for shiny projects, while the infrastructure that keeps them running was allowed to decay.

It is not unlike so many boat owners who are willing to spend money on the bling for their boats while neglecting the hull or standing rigging.

Will it ever stop? Yes eventually. It is only a matter of time.