2004 Coast Guard Operations During Operation Iraqi Freedom

In late 2002, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) began preparations for its participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). This became its largest overseas deployment since the Vietnam War. The USCG sent two major cutters, a buoy tender, eight patrol boats, numerous port security units, and their support units out of country in support of this war. In addition, USCG personnel, mostly reservists, provided security for military out-load operations in the continental United States (CONUS), as well as general security for ports across the country. To perform these tasks, the Coast Guard had to call up reservists, re-assign active duty personnel, and train these forces for new missions in unfamiliar environments. In the course of the war, the Coast Guard performed many missions it is familiar with as well as many it is not. The Coast Guard Historian’s office asked the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) to help compile a history of the service’s role during OIF. We conducted interviews with many of the commanders of Coast Guard forces in both Atlantic and Pacific Area Coast Guard Headquarters. We also collected message traffic and situation reports Coast Guard forces sent during the war. We supplemented the data we collected with the results of other CNA analyses of OIF.