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Allen: CG making tough budget choices

The Coast Guard responded first to Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake Jan. 12, but two of the 12 cutters that responded were in such embarrassingly bad shape that they had to leave for repairs, according to Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen. Ten needed serious work.

The high-endurance cutter Hamilton is anchored off the coast of Haiti now, but that leaves one less patrol boat to catch drug traffickers in the Pacific off the coast of Central America. With the cutter gone for a month, Allen estimates that 10 tons of cocaine might get through to Mexico and ultimately the United States, based on the amount of drugs the Coast Guard intercepts in a year.

In that example and others, Allen made it clear in his fourth and final State of the Coast Guard address at the National Press Club on Friday that the Coast Guard will make do with the tight budget proposed for fiscal 2011, but the tradeoffs can be severe.

“We need a very clear understanding of our priorities,” Allen said.

The Coast Guard has requested $10.08 billion for fiscal 2011, down 3.3 percent from the $10.42 billion appropriated for fiscal 2010. The budget also reflects a 2.6 percent cut in active-duty end strength, or 1,112 active-duty billets. The Coast Guard will hire 339 civilians to fill the gap, but that still leaves a net loss of 773 people.

The bulk of the billets that will be lost will be from the decommissioning of five cutters, five maritime safety and security teams and nine aircraft. The loss of maritime safety and security team from big cities, such as New York, San Francisco and New Orleans, has drawn sharp criticism from Congress.

The cities that were chosen had the largest Coast Guard stations and were thought best able to cope without the teams, Allen told reporters after the address.

“There was no intent to vacate any city arbitrarily or capriciously,” he said.

During his luncheon address, Allen tried to maintain a balance between toeing the party line and outlining the stark realities offered in the budget that his successor, Vice. Adm. Robert Papp Jr., will have to deal with once he is confirmed as the next commandant. Allen will retire May 25. Allen acknowledged the “constrained budget environment” but said he was glad that the proposal would allow him and his successor to continue to replace aging ships and aircraft, with nearly $1 billion earmarked for a fifth national security cutter, four fast-response cutters, 10 response boats-medium and a new HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft.

“As commandant, I support this budget as it allows me and the Coast Guard to recapitalize,” Allen said. “We are prepared to do our job with the resources in the budget.”

He thanked First Lady Michelle Obama for her support in getting $14 million in additional funding for Coast Guard housing into the budget proposal.

But he asked for greater cooperation between the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Homeland Security in submitting a five-year capital investment plan with the budget proposal to Congress to offer the Coast Guard greater predictability in planning for major acquisitions. It was not in the budget request for fiscal 2010.

“That did not get to the Hill in time,” Allen said.

Allen noted there was no funding set aside for a polar icebreaker in the budget — a billion-dollar enterprise that could take eight years to design and build. He called for public dialogue on how the U.S. should respond to melting Arctic ice that will gradually open the Northwest Passage to energy exploration, shipping traffic and eco-tourism.

“It’s a national responsibility, and we have to have a national discussion about it,” he said.

Transcript of Allen’s speech