Joint/Interagency/Interconnected: Maritime Security and Defense in the Global War on Terror

Book excerpt: In order for the U.S. to be successful in the maritime global war on terror, the Coast Guard should assist the Navy in conducting major operations against terrorists and their support in the international littorals. Conversely, the Navy should assist the Coast Guard in conducting major operations in the offshore U.S. environment in defense of the United States. In other words, the Navy and Coast Guard should closely integrate through coordination and cooperation on a proverbial war footing, ultimately leveraging their distinct strengths directly and indirectly to the terrorism problem in the other's assigned areas of responsibility. The Navy and Coast Guard must be joined on a wartime footing similar to that of World War II, but at a much more sophisticated level suitable for the complex nature of war and the asymmetric nature of the threat in the 21st century. The Navy and Coast Guard team should practice their operational art in a joint, flexible, and interconnected manner in both domestic and international maritime theaters. They must employ military and law enforcement power appropriately in time, space, and force to reach the four goals of the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, to Defeat, Deny, Diminish, and Defend against terrorism.