COAST GUARD CUTS NEW PATH IN TERROR WAR

Guard Symbolizes Challenges Of Security-Agency Merger.

SAN PEDRO, CALIF. - As the Coast Guard patrol boat Halibut escorts a giant
cruise ship out of port, vacationers get a first-hand glimpse of America's
growing focus on homeland defense.

The factory-fresh cutter is clearing a right-of-way 600 yards wide for the
floating, maritime playhouse - until it is safely beyond the breakwater of
the nation's largest port.

By stepping up its watch on potential terrorist targets such as cruise
liners, the Coast Guard illustrates the promise - but also the challenges -
involved in the planned merger of nearly two dozen federal agencies into a
new Department of Homeland Security this fall.

Coast Guard crews could benefit from increased staff and funding. Its
efforts to collaborate with other agencies could get a boost by joining
under one banner.

Questions Of Oversight

Still, the emphasis on homeland defense may come at a cost. As cruise ships
get more attention, it is possible that foreign fish poachers or drug
smugglers will get less.

Coast Guard officials say crews like the 10 people aboard the Halibut are
accustomed to multitasking. Putting top priority on terrorism won't mean
forgetting to rescue storm-tossed boats or clean oil spills, they say. But
critics say the legislation leaves some key questions of oversight -
especially the balancing of security and nonsecurity duties - unresolved.

"This is a real, major concern for us in the fishing industry," says Zeke
Grader, president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

"In the 1980s, after the big push for drug interdiction, we saw the [Coast
Guard's] search and rescue mission really suffer."

Such concerns are paralleled at several of the 21 other federal agencies
that are expected to be folded into the Homeland Security Department.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, for example, traditionally focuses
much of its attention on hurricanes and floods, not responding to terrorist
acts. And the Secret Service, while focused on safeguarding the president
and on securing major events like the Super Bowl, also has major
anti-counterfeiting operations.

Congress is still working out details. The House has passed its version,
and the Senate will consider the new department in September. But the
agency's basic concept enjoys bipartisan support.

Guard Already Adapting

To some degree, in fact, the legislation will merely be solidifying efforts
that are already under way.

With the nation's ports viewed as vulnerable to terror attacks, the Coast
Guard has been adapting its priorities since Sept. 11.

In addition to escorting cruise ships, the Guard plans to add a 100-strong
force of ever-ready commandos in Long Beach by September.

Nationwide, 11 similar "maritime safety and security teams" will be in
place by 2005. In Long Beach, Calif., the agency has also been fine-tuning
a command center to communicate better with other port-related agencies,
from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to Customs and local police.

New funding - an added $750 million in a budget of $5.6 billion - could
help the Guard press ahead with such changes while maintaining its
nonsecurity duties.

"As important as our homeland security needs are, we cannot abandon the
traditional, vital missions of the Coast Guard," says Sen. Ted Stevens, (R)
of Alaska. One of a group of Coast Guard supporters on Capitol Hill from
coastal and Great Lakes states, Senator Stevens has been trumpeting the
importance of search and rescue.

Some observers say that if anyone can fulfill multiple duties, the US Coast
Guard can. Perhaps more than any other federal agency, that's what it has
done ever since its 1787 birth. "The Coast Guard has always been multitask.
No one is more used to it than the Coast Guard," says James Lewis of the
Center for Strategic and International Studies.

A Coast Guard C130 transport helicopter can investigate one boat for
terrorist activity, interdict drugs on another, and supply fuel to a third
boat that is in distress - all on one outing.

Indeed, others say the Guard's versatility should be capitalized on - not
changed - to aid the war on terrorism.

"Coast Guard [units] who are already out on daily patrols [are] very well
suited to capture terrorists in their net," says Stephen Flynn, a professor
at the US Coast Guard Academy.

The biggest mistake, current Coast Guard leaders say, would be to divide
the 35,000-strong force into separate units on beats such as policing or
rescue.

"I joined the Coast Guard for search and rescue," says Lt. Shad Thomas, the
Halibut's commanding officer. "Yes, we may venture off into bigger
territory, but search and rescue will always be key."

How well the Coast Guard juggles its many duties when managed by a new
department remains to be seen.

But the determination of people like Lieutenant Thomas, some say, reflects
important lessons that the Guard learned during another "war" - one against
drugs.

"There were some growing pains in the 1980s after the Coast Guard went
through the culture shock of focusing on drug interdiction," says Professor
Flynn. "I think they learned a few things about not abandoning their role."

On a typical day, the Coast Guard ...

Conducts 109 search and rescue missions Saves 10 lives. Seizes 306
pounds of cocaine and 169 pounds of marijuana. Interdicts 14 illegal
migrants. Responds to 20 oil or hazardous-chemical spills. Assists 2,509
commercial ships entering & leaving US ports. And more, including buoy
tending and boat-safety instruction.

Source: US Coast Guard