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105-601: Swift Boat or swift boat may refer to: Patrol Craft Fast , known as "Swift Boats", boats operated by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War Swift Boat Veterans for Truth , former name of the political group Swift Vets and POWs for Truth Flyboat (also called swift boat), a light and fast passenger boat See also [ edit ] Swiftboating , political jargon for

210-536: A "system of cutters," each ship operated under the direction of the customs officials in the port to which it was assigned. Several names, including "Revenue-Marine," were used as the service gradually becoming more organized. Eventually it was officially organized as the United States Revenue Cutter Service . In addition to its regular law enforcement and customs duties, revenue cutters and their crews were used to support and supplement

315-596: A 2005 article in Time magazine following Hurricane Katrina , the author wrote, "the Coast Guard's most valuable contribution to [a military effort when catastrophe hits] may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit." Wil Milam, a rescue swimmer from Alaska told the magazine, "In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war. In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and

420-452: A 57 mm recoilless rifle. Its controls destroyed and coxswain killed, it ran aground at speed. When the crew ran out of ammunition it had to be abandoned. It was recovered the next day but was too badly damaged to be repaired, so was salvaged instead. PCF-43 was lost to a rocket attack in 1969. Several other Swift Boats had been lost to river mines, but had been salvaged and either repaired or used for spare parts. When Vietnamization

525-480: A Coast Guard Reserve Officer. Lawyers, engineers, intelligence officers, military aviators holding commissions in other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces requesting interservice transfers to the Coast Guard, graduates of maritime academies, and certain other individuals may also receive an officer's commission in the Coast Guard through the Direct Commission Officer (DCO) program. Depending on

630-727: A DsHK HMG and an AGS-17 AGL mounted on top. Former U.S. Navy Vietnam veterans, from the Swift Boat Sailors' Association, visited Malta in 2010 and said the Malta Swifts were the last two still in service, out of hundreds that were built. One of the two patrol boats headed back to the United States to become a memorial in summer 2012 at the Maritime Museum of San Diego in California. The museum has

735-804: A Swift Boat when he served in Vietnam. LTJG Kerry was awarded the Silver Star , Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts during riverine combat in a PCF. As the Democratic nominee for president in 2004 , then- Senator Kerry's military record was attacked by a political 527 group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth . Ever since, the term " swiftboating " has entered American political jargon associating swift boat service with political smear tactics. In an article in The New York Times on June 30, 2008, Swift Boat veterans objected to

840-643: A branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times. The Coast Guard shall be a service in the Department of Homeland Security, except when operating as a service in the Navy." Coast Guard organization and operation is as set forth in Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations . On 25 November 2002, the Homeland Security Act was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush, designating

945-572: A combat environment. The squadron operated divisions in three separate areas during the period of 1965 to 1970. Twenty-six Point-class cutters with their crews and a squadron support staff were assigned to the U.S. Navy with the mission of interdicting the movement of arms and supplies from the South China Sea into South Vietnam by Viet Cong and North Vietnam junk and trawler operators. The squadron also provided 81mm mortar naval gunfire support to nearby friendly units operating along

1050-463: A departure from the Navy conventions, all petty officers E-6 and below wear red chevrons and all chief petty officers wear gold. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is a four-year service academy located in New London, Connecticut . Approximately 200 cadets graduate each year, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as an ensign in the Coast Guard. Graduates are obligated to serve

1155-551: A display paying tribute to the Maltese servicemen who died on board the P23 (the sister vessel of P24 ) during an accident that occurred on September 7, 1984. The incident – known as the C23 tragedy and the worst peace-time accident suffered by Maltese services personnel – killed five AFM soldiers and two policemen when illegal fireworks about to be dumped into the sea exploded on the bow of

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1260-617: A gold Coast Guard Shield in lieu of a line star or staff corps officer insignia. Highly qualified enlisted personnel in pay grades E-6 through E-9 with a minimum of eight years' experience can compete each year for appointment as warrant officers (WO). Successful candidates are chosen by a board and then commissioned as chief warrant officer two (CWO2) in one of twenty-one specialties. Over time, chief warrant officers may be promoted to chief warrant officer three (CWO3) and chief warrant officer four (CWO4). The ranks of warrant officer (WO1) and chief warrant officer five (CWO5) are not currently used in

1365-419: A humanitarian service, it saves tens of thousands of lives a year at sea and in U.S. waters, and provides emergency response and disaster management for a wide range of human-made and natural catastrophic incidents in the U.S. and throughout the world. The U.S. Coast Guard operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during peacetime. During times of war, it can be transferred in whole or in part to

1470-467: A minimum of five years on active duty. Most graduates are assigned to duty aboard Coast Guard cutters immediately after graduation, either as Deck Watch Officers (DWOs) or as Engineer Officers in Training (EOITs). Smaller numbers are assigned directly to flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida or to shore duty at Coast Guard Sector , District, or Area headquarters units. In addition to

1575-480: A pair of General Motors 12V71"N" Detroit marine diesel engines rated at 480 horsepower (360 kW) each, with a design range from 320 nautical miles (590 km) at 21 knots (39 km/h) to about 750 nautical miles (1,390 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h). The normal complement for a Swift Boat was six: an officer in charge (skipper), a boatswains mate, a radar/radioman (radarman), an engineer (engineman), and two gunners (quartermaster and gunner's mate). In 1969,

1680-503: A particular form of character assassination as a smear tactic Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Swift Boat . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swift_Boat&oldid=921671092 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

1785-450: A refrigerator and freezer, and a sink. The 81 mm combination mortar mounted on the rear deck was not a gravity firing mortar as used by the Army and Marine Corps , in which the falling projectile's primer struck the fixed firing pin at the base of the mortar tube, but a unique lanyard firing weapon in which the projectile was still loaded into the muzzle. The gunner could "fire at will" by

1890-678: A separate federal agency, also within the Treasury Department, with fulltime paid crews. In 1915 these two agencies, the Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service, were merged to create the modern United States Coast Guard. The Lighthouse Service and the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation were absorbed by the Coast Guard 1939 and 1942 respectively. In 1967, the Coast Guard moved from

1995-636: A service of the Department of the Navy . This arrangement has a broad historical basis, as the Coast Guard has been involved in wars as diverse as the War of 1812 , the Mexican–American War , and the American Civil War , in which the cutter Harriet Lane fired the first naval shots attempting to relieve besieged Fort Sumter . The last time the Coast Guard operated as a whole within the Navy

2100-509: A staff job, or an operations ashore billet. OCS is the primary channel through which the Coast Guard enlisted grades ascend to the commissioned officer corps. Unlike the other military services, the Coast Guard does not have a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program. However, the Coast Guard does have the Select Reserve Direct Commission, an officer program for prospective candidates interested serving as

2205-411: A summary table of the authorities of the Coast Guard's 192 special agents and 3,780 maritime law enforcement boarding officers. Coast Guardsmen have the legal authority to carry their service-issued firearms on and off base. This is rarely done in practice, however; at many Coast Guard stations, commanders prefer to have all service-issued weapons in armories when not in use. Still, one court has held in

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2310-437: A total workforce of 87,569. The formal name for a uniformed member of the Coast Guard is "Coast Guardsman", irrespective of gender. "Coastie" is an informal term commonly used to refer to current or former Coast Guard personnel. In 2008, the term "Guardian" was introduced as an alternative but was later dropped. Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr. stated that it was his belief that no Commandant had the authority to change what members of

2415-448: Is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the United States military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its duties. It is the largest coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies . The U.S. Coast Guard is a humanitarian and security service. It protects

2520-555: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Patrol Craft Fast The Swift Boat was conceived in a Naval Advisory Group , Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (NAVADGRP MACV) staff study titled "Naval Craft Requirements in a Counter Insurgency Environment," published 1 February 1965. The study was positively received, and the Navy began to search for sources. Sewart Seacraft of Berwick, Louisiana ( Swiftships ' predecessor), built water taxis for companies operating oil rigs in

2625-606: Is interlaced by rivers and canal ways. Controlled by the VC, the interior waterways of the Mekong Delta were used to transport supplies and weapons. Swift Boats generally operated in teams of three to five. Each boat had an officer in charge, one of whom would also be placed in overall charge of the mission. Their missions included patrolling the waterways, searching water traffic for weapons and munitions, transporting South Vietnamese marine units and inserting Navy SEAL teams. When

2730-527: Is managed and used by the Coast Guard for tracking pollution and safety incidents in the nation's ports. The National Maritime Center (NMC) is the merchant mariner credentialing authority for the USCG under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security . To ensure a safe, secure, and environmentally sound marine transportation system, the mission of the NMC is to issue credentials to fully qualified mariners in

2835-603: Is on the grounds of the former St. Elizabeths Hospital in the Anacostia section of Southeast Washington, across the Anacostia River from former Coast Guard headquarters. The fiscal year 2016 budget request for the U.S. Coast Guard was $ 9.96 billion. The Coast Guard's current district organization is divided into 9 districts. Their designations, district office and area of responsibility are as follows: Shore establishment commands exist to support and facilitate

2940-732: Is operational in San Diego, California at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The boat makes regular runs on weekends and is staffed with former Swift Boat sailors as narrators. There are two Swift Boats preserved in static displays in the United States. Both are former U.S. Navy Swift Boats that were originally stationed in California to train PCF crews. One is located at the Navy Museum at Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. ;

3045-684: The Fall of Saigon in 1975. The PCFs were quickly used in VPN operations at Thổ Chu and other islands to repel the invasion of the Khmer Rouge . The Swift Boats are still active in the Vietnam People's Navy. The M2 machine gun was replaced by a domestically produced 12.7 mm NSV gun, which had fewer jamming problems and was easier for the crews to maintain. The electronic and communication systems were also overhauled. Some PCFs captured have

3150-665: The Golden Gate Bridge to cruise either north or south along the Pacific Ocean coastline. PCF-8 sank in a storm off Bodega Bay , California in December 1969. This was the only Swift Boat lost during training operations. No crewmen were lost in the event. The most frequent training area for the Mare Island units was the marshland that forms the northern shoreline of San Francisco Bay. This area, now known as

3255-542: The Gulf of Mexico , which appeared nearly ideal. The Navy bought their plans, and asked Sewart Seacraft to prepare modified drawings that included a gun tub, ammo lockers, bunks, and a small galley . The Navy used those enhanced plans to request bids from other boat builders. Sewart Seacraft was chosen to build the boats. The Swift Boats had welded aluminum hulls about 50 feet (15 m) long with 13 feet (4.0 m) beam, and draft of about five feet (1.5 m). They were powered by

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3360-797: The Napa Sonoma Marshes State Wildlife Area, was also used by United States Navy Reserve unit PBRs) up until 1995, when Mare Island was scheduled for base closure. The first Swift Boats arrived in South Vietnam in October 1965. The boats were initially used as coastal patrol craft in Operation Market Time , interdicting seaborne supplies on their way to the Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces in South Vietnam. However,

3465-452: The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary . The service maintains an extensive fleet of roughly 250 coastal and ocean-going cutters , patrol ships, buoy tenders, tugs, and icebreakers; as well as nearly 2,000 small boats and specialized craft. It also maintains an aviation division consisting of more than 200 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. While the U.S. Coast Guard is the second smallest of the U.S. military service branches in terms of membership,

3570-472: The U.S. Department of the Navy under the Department of Defense by order of the U.S. President or by act of Congress . Prior to its transfer to Homeland Security, it operated under the Department of Transportation from 1967 to 2003 and the Department of the Treasury from its inception until 1967. A congressional authority transfer to the Navy has only happened once: in 1917, during World War I . By

3675-415: The U.S. Department of the Treasury to the newly formed U.S. Department of Transportation , an arrangement that lasted until it was placed under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2003 as part of legislation designed to more efficiently protect American interests following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 . In times of war, the Coast Guard or individual components of it can operate as

3780-563: The United States ' borders and economic and security interests abroad; and defends its sovereignty by safeguarding sea lines of communication and commerce across U.S. territorial waters and its Exclusive Economic Zone . Due to ever-expanding risk imposed by transnational threats through the maritime and cyber domains, the U.S. Coast Guard is at any given time deployed to and operating on all seven continents and in cyberspace to enforce its mission. Like its United States Navy sibling,

3885-568: The United States Air Force as the federal agency responsible for inland SAR. Both agencies maintain rescue coordination centers to coordinate this effort, and have responsibility for both military and civilian search and rescue. The two services jointly provide instructor staff for the National Search and Rescue School that trains SAR mission planners and coordinators. Previously located on Governors Island, New York,

3990-432: The 17th, Boston , which was engaged in a naval gunfire support mission in the same general area, came under attack from an unidentified jet aircraft. The jet fired two missiles at the ship: one exploded 200 yards (180 m) off the port beam; and the other close aboard to port, showering the ship with fragments. No sailors were injured, and the missiles caused only minor structural damage to the ship. At 03:09, while Hobart

4095-566: The Academy, prospective officers, who already hold a college degree, may enter the Coast Guard through Officer Candidate School (OCS), also located at the Coast Guard Academy. OCS is a 17-week course of instruction that prepares candidates to serve effectively as officers in the Coast Guard. In addition to indoctrinating students into a military lifestyle, OCS provides a wide range of highly technical information necessary to perform

4200-530: The Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates under the Department of Defense as a service in the Department of the Navy . As members of the military, Coast Guardsmen on active and reserve service are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and receive

4305-473: The Coast Guard are called as the term Coast Guardsman is found in Title 14 USC which established the Coast Guard in 1915. "Team Coast Guard" refers to the four components of the Coast Guard as a whole: Regular, Reserve, Auxiliary, and Coast Guard civilian employees. Commissioned officers in the Coast Guard hold pay grades ranging from O-1 to O-10 and have the same rank structure as the Navy. Officers holding

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4410-535: The Coast Guard joined with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps to adopt a new maritime strategy called A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower that raised the notion of prevention of war to the same philosophical level as the conduct of war. This new strategy charted a course for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps to work collectively with each other and international partners to prevent regional crises, man-made or natural, from occurring, or reacting quickly should one occur to avoid negative impacts to

4515-543: The Coast Guard operate under Department of the Navy operational control while other Coast Guard units remain under the Department of Homeland Security . The Deployable Operations Group (DOG) was a Coast Guard command established in July 2007. The DOG established a single command authority to rapidly provide the Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Justice and other interagency operational commanders adaptive force packages drawn from

4620-423: The Coast Guard to be placed under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security . The transfer of administrative control from the U.S. Department of Transportation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was completed the following year, on 1 March 2003. The U.S. Coast Guard reports directly to the civilian Secretary of Homeland Security. However, under 14 U.S.C.   § 3 as amended by section 211 of

4725-603: The Coast Guard's deployable specialized force units. The DOG was disestablished on 22 April 2013 and reorganized into Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF) units were placed under the control of the Atlantic and Pacific Area Commanders. The planning for the unit began after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, and culminated with its formation on 20 July 2007. Its missions included maritime law enforcement, anti-terrorism , port security , pollution response, and diving operations . There were over 25 specialized units within

4830-509: The Coast Guard. Chief warrant officers may also compete for the Chief Warrant Officer to Lieutenant Program. If selected, the warrant officer will be promoted to lieutenant (O-3E). The "E" designates over four years' active duty service as a warrant officer or enlisted member and entitles the member to a higher rate of pay than other lieutenants. Enlisted members of the Coast Guard have pay grades from E-1 to E-9 and also follow

4935-828: The Deployable Operations Group including the Maritime Security Response Team , Maritime Safety and Security Teams , Law Enforcement Detachments, Port Security Units , the National Strike Force , and Regional Dive Lockers. The DOG also managed Coast Guard personnel assigned to the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and was involved in the selection of Coast Guard candidates to attend Navy BUD/S and serve with Navy SEAL Teams . The new Department of Homeland Security headquarters complex

5040-590: The Navy in various armed conflicts including the American Civil War . A separate federal agency, the U.S. Life-Saving Service , developed alongside the Revenue-Marine. Prior to 1848, there were various charitable efforts at creating systems to provide assistance to shipwrecked mariners from shore-based stations, notably by the Massachusetts Humane Society . The federal government began funding lifesaving stations in 1848 but funding

5145-871: The South Vietnamese coastline and assisted the U.S. Navy during Operation Sealords . Coast Guard Squadron Three , was a combat unit formed by the United States Coast Guard in 1967 for service during the Vietnam War . Placed under the operational control of the United States Navy and based in Pearl Harbor . It consisted of five USCG High Endurance Cutters operating on revolving six-month deployments. A total of 35 High Endurance Cutters took part in operations from May 1967 to December 1971, most notably using their 5-inch guns to provide naval gunfire support missions. Often units within

5250-488: The Swift Boats began making forays up the waterways into the interior of the delta, they initially took the carriers by surprise, causing them to drop their materials and run off into the overgrowth. Occasionally a short firefight would break out. As it became clear that control of the waterways was being contested, the VC developed a number of tactics to challenge the U.S. Navy. They set up ambushes, built obstructions in

5355-635: The Treasury Alexander Hamilton lobbied Congress to fund the construction of ten cutters , which it did on 4 August 1790 (now celebrated as the Coast Guard's official birthday). Until the re-establishment of the Navy in 1798, these "revenue cutters" were the only naval force of the early United States. As such, the cutters and their crews frequently took on additional duties, including combating piracy, rescuing mariners in distress, ferrying government officials, and even carrying mail. Initially not an organized federal agency at all, merely

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5460-417: The U.S. Coast Guard maintains a global presence with permanently-assigned personnel throughout the world and forces routinely deploying to both littoral and blue-water regions. The U.S. Coast Guard's adaptive, multi-mission "white hull" fleet is leveraged as a force of both diplomatic soft power and humanitarian and security assistance over the more overtly confrontational nature of "gray hulled" warships. As

5565-421: The U.S. Navy , as well as officers from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are assigned to the Coast Guard to perform chaplain-related functions and medical-related functions, respectively. These officers wear Coast Guard uniforms but replace the Coast Guard insignia with that of their own service. The Navy and Coast Guard share identical officer rank insignia except that Coast Guard officers wear

5670-475: The U.S. Navy in Vietnam and the two training bases in California. About 80 of the boats constructed were sold or given away to nations friendly to the United States. The original training base for Swift Boats was at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado . In 1969, training was moved to Mare Island near San Pablo Bay , California, where it remained for the duration of the war. Though not a deep water boat, PCF training boats frequently transited from Mare Island, through

5775-483: The United States maritime jurisdiction. The six uniformed services that make up the U.S. Armed Forces are defined in Title 10 of the U.S. Code : "The term "armed forces" means the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard." The Coast Guard is further defined by Title 14 of the United States Code : "The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and

5880-475: The United States today. R/V Matthew F. Maury is operated by Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Formerly PCF-2 , the vessel was awarded to the college in 1995 and has been used in oceanographic research and education since then. It is berthed at JEB Little Creek and operates in and around Chesapeake Bay. The second operational PCF, PCF-816 (formerly P-24 in the service of Malta)

5985-523: The United States. During the launch of the new U.S. maritime strategy at the International Seapower Symposium at the U.S. Naval War College in 2007, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen said the new maritime strategy reinforced the time-honored missions the service has carried out in the United States since 1790. "It reinforces the Coast Guard maritime strategy of safety, security and stewardship, and it reflects not only

6090-451: The aircraft turned and retreated. Fourteen minutes later Edson , now at general quarters due to reports from Hobart about hostile aircraft in the area, came under attack by an unidentified aircraft. Lookouts and sonar confirmed a near miss astern by a missile. The next day Vice Admiral William F. Bringle , Commander Seventh Fleet, appointed Rear Admiral S. H. Moore, Commander Task Group 77.1/70.8, to conduct an informal investigation into

6195-503: The aircraft visually, using Starlight Scopes and by radar. Over the course of the night, Air Force pilots reported 19 additional helicopter sightings. On this same evening the guided missile heavy cruiser USS  Boston , operating near the DMZ, also began reporting helicopter activity in the vicinity of Bến Hải , Cap Lay and Tiger Island. At 00:10 on the 16th, an unidentified aircraft fired three rockets or missiles at Boston , but none hit

6300-481: The aircraft. At 03:16, two more missiles hit the ship, destroying the gunners' store and damaging other spaces, including the engineers' workshop, the seamen's mess, the missile director room, the RIM-24 Tartar checkout room, and the chiefs' mess (again). This second attack killed an officer and wounded other sailors. As the aircraft turned to make a third pass, one of the ship's gun turrets fired five rounds and

6405-459: The ambushers often slipping away into the undergrowth when the boats located the source of attack and began to concentrate their return fire. When attacked the boats would accelerate out of the hot zone, turn and then return as a group, firing as many of their guns as they could bring to bear. They would power past the ambush point, turn and return to attack again until the ambushers were either killed or slipped away. Though most cruising and patrolling

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6510-445: The authority to: (1) carry a firearm; (2) execute and serve any order, warrant, subpoena, summons, or other process issued under the authority of the United States; (3) make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the officer's presence or for a felony, cognizable under the laws of the United States committed outside the officer's presence if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that

6615-689: The canals to create choke points and began to place mines in the waterways. For the Swifts, coming back down river was always more dangerous than going up river. The passage of a patrol assured their eventual return, providing an opportunity for the VC. Ambushes were typically short lived affairs, set up at a river bend or in a narrow canal that restricted the maneuverability of the boats. A wide variety of portable weapons were used in attacks, including recoilless rifles , B-40 rockets , .50 caliber machine guns and AK-47s , often fired from behind earthen bunkered positions. Engagements were brief and violent, with

6720-480: The case of People v. Booth that Coast Guard boarding officers are qualified law enforcement officers authorized to carry personal firearms off-duty for self-defense. The Coast Guard traced its roots to the small fleet of vessels maintained by the United States Department of the Treasury beginning in the 1790s to enforce tariffs (an important source of revenue for the new nation). Secretary of

6825-718: The communications and operations center for the National Response Team, the NRC maintains agreements with a variety of federal entities to make additional notifications regarding incidents meeting established trigger criteria. The NRC also takes Maritime Suspicious Activity and Security Breach Reports. Details on the NRC organization and specific responsibilities can be found in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. The Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement (MISLE) database system

6930-440: The crew was supplemented with a Vietnamese trainee. The first two PCFs were delivered to the Navy in late August 1965. The original water taxi design had been enhanced with two .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns in a turret above the pilot house, an over-and-under .50-caliber machine gun – 81 mm mortar combination mounted on the rear deck, a mortar ammunition box on the stern, improved habitability equipment such as bunks,

7035-488: The design's shallow draft and low freeboard limited their seaworthiness in open waters. These limitations, plus the difficulties being encountered in the interior waterways by the smaller, more lightly armed PBRs , led to the incorporation of Swifts to patrol the 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of rivers and canals of Vietnam's interior waterways. Swift Boats continued to operate along the Vietnamese coastal areas, but with

7140-410: The duties of a Coast Guard officer. Graduates of OCS are usually commissioned as ensigns, but some with advanced graduate degrees may enter as lieutenants (junior grade) or lieutenants . Graduating OCS officers entering active duty are required to serve a minimum of three years, while graduating reserve officers are required to serve four years. Graduates may be assigned to a cutter, flight training,

7245-477: The global reach of our maritime services but the need to integrate and synchronize and act with our coalition and international partners to not only win wars ... but to prevent wars," Allen said. Title 14 USC, section 2 authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce U.S. federal laws. This authority is further defined in 14 U.S.C.   § 522 , which gives law enforcement powers to all Coast Guard commissioned officers, warrant officers, and petty officers. Unlike

7350-525: The incident with surviving veterans and a review of salvage reports from USS  Acme , the ship that recovered the bodies and codebooks from PCF-19 shortly after the attack, found that the rocket entry holes in the hull of PCF-19 were 76.2mm in size—the size of a standard helicopter rocket carried by a Soviet -manufactured Mi-4 Hound helicopter and not Sparrow or Sidewinder holes, which would have been larger. The Vietnam People's Navy managed to capture 107 of Republic of Vietnam Navy PCFs after

7455-474: The main cabin and exploded in the water ten feet from the boat. PCF-12 came about, increased speed and moved away from the kill zone while bringing its .50-caliber guns to bear against an aerial target hovering at 1,000 feet (300 m) with lights blinking. The aircraft decreased altitude and turned off its lights. After a short time, PCF-12 stopped to observe the scene and saw two aircraft appeared off its beams again with lights on. The boat commander contacted

7560-422: The marine observer and inquired about their status. The marines told him that they could not identify the aircraft because they did not have their identification, friend or foe (IFF) transponders turned on. At 02:35, the aircraft near the beach fired 40–50 rounds of .50-caliber tracer fire at the PCF. All rounds landed astern. PCF-12 responded with machine-gun and mortar fire. At 02:40, Point Dume , now back on

7665-564: The mission of the sea and air assets and Coastal Defense . U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters is located in Southeast Washington, D.C. Examples of other shore establishment types are Coast Guard Sectors (which may include Coast Guard Bases), Surface Forces Logistics Center (SFLC), Coast Guard Stations , Coast Guard Air Stations , and the United States Coast Guard Yard . Training centers are included in

7770-407: The mission will take care of itself." The eleven statutory missions as defined by law are divided into homeland security missions and non-homeland security missions: The U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue (CG-SAR) is one of the Coast Guard's best-known operations. The National Search and Rescue Plan designates the Coast Guard as the federal agency responsible for maritime SAR operations, and

7875-947: The other branches of the United States Armed Forces , which are prevented from acting in a law enforcement capacity by 18 U.S.C.   § 1385 , the Posse Comitatus Act , and Department of Defense policy, the Coast Guard is exempt from and not subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act. Further law enforcement authority is given by 14 U.S.C.   § 703 and 19 U.S.C.   § 1401 , which empower U.S. Coast Guard active and reserve commissioned officers, warrant officers, and petty officers as federal customs officers . This places them under 19 U.S.C.   § 1589a , which grants customs officers general federal law enforcement authority, including

7980-660: The person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony; and (4) perform any other law enforcement duty that the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate. The U.S. Government Accountability Office Report to the House of Representatives , Committee on the Judiciary on its 2006 Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities, identified the Coast Guard as one of 104 federal components that employed law enforcement officers . The report also included

8085-497: The prevalent use of the verb "swiftboating" as this type of ad hominem attack, stating that it is disrespectful to the men who served and died on the PCFs during Vietnam. United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard ( USCG ) is the maritime security , search and rescue , and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services . The service

8190-564: The rank of ensign (O-1) through lieutenant commander (O-4) are considered junior officers, commanders (O-5) and captains (O-6) are considered senior officers, and rear admirals (O-7) through admirals (O-10) are considered flag officers. The Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard are the only members of the Coast Guard authorized to hold the rank of admiral. The Coast Guard does not have medical officers or chaplains of its own. Instead, chaplains from

8295-821: The same pay and allowances as members of the same pay grades in the other uniformed services. The service has participated in every major U.S. conflict from 1790 through today, including landing troops on D-Day and on the Pacific Islands in World War II , in extensive patrols and shore bombardment during the Vietnam War , and multiple roles in Operation Iraqi Freedom . Maritime interception operations, coastal security, transportation security, and law enforcement detachments have been its major roles in recent conflicts in Iraq . On 17 October 2007,

8400-545: The same rank structure as the Navy. Enlisted members in pay grades of E-4 and higher are considered petty officers and follow career development paths very similar to those of Navy petty officers. Petty officers in pay grade E-7 and higher are chief petty officers and must attend the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy , or an equivalent Department of Defense school, in order to be advanced to pay grade E-8. The basic themes of

8505-634: The scene was attacked by a fixed-wing aircraft, which made two attack runs against the vessel. Both the commanding officer of Point Dume and the commander of PCF-12 positively identified the aircraft as a "jet." The crews of Point Dume and PCF-12 then observed numerous lighted aircraft that appeared to be helicopters in the northern part of the area. These aircraft approached the U.S. vessels and made firing runs with their lights off. Point Dume received heavy caliber automatic weapons fire from these aircraft and returned fire. PCF-12 also returned fire intermittently for approximately 75 minutes. Neither vessel

8610-440: The school are: Enlisted rank insignia is also nearly identical to Navy enlisted insignia. The Coast Guard shield replacing the petty officer's eagle on collar and cap devices for petty officers or enlisted rating insignia for seamen qualified as a "designated striker" . Group Rate marks (stripes) for junior enlisted members (E-3 and below) also follow Navy convention with white for seaman, red for fireman, and green for airman. In

8715-582: The school is now located at Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown at Yorktown, Virginia. Operated by the Coast Guard, the National Response Center (NRC) is the sole U.S. Government point of contact for reporting all oil , chemical , radiological , biological , and etiological spills and discharges into the environment, anywhere in the United States and its territories. In addition to gathering and distributing spill/incident information for Federal On Scene Coordinators and serving as

8820-651: The second Swift Boat is on the Naval Special Weapons Base at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado , California, the original home of PCF training. Those who served on the boats in Vietnam and later became politicians include Nebraska Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey , a recipient of the Medal of Honor , and Arizona Congressman Jim Kolbe , who served in the United States Navy . U.S. Senator and Secretary of State John Kerry commanded

8925-418: The service by itself is the world's 12th largest naval force. The Coast Guard carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are: With a decentralized organization and much responsibility placed on even the most junior personnel, the Coast Guard is frequently lauded for its quick responsiveness and adaptability in a broad range of emergencies. In

9030-794: The shore establishment commands. The military college for the USCG is called the United States Coast Guard Academy which trains both new officers through a four year program and enlisted personnel joining the ranks of officers through a 17 week program called Officer Candidate School (OCS). Abbreviated TRACEN, the other Training Centers include Training Center Cape May for enlisted bootcamp, Training Center Petaluma and Training Center Yorktown for enlisted "A" schools and "C" schools, and Coast Guard Aviation Technical Training Center and Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile for aviation enlisted "A" school, "C" schools, and pilot officer training. The Coast Guard has

9135-400: The small patrol boat. The AFM retained P23 as a memorial to those killed in the explosion. P23 was also depicted on a Maltese postage stamp commemorating the island's maritime heritage on 10 August 2011. A Swift Mk.3-class PB-353 physically restored and converted to museum display at the re-launched Philippine Navy Museum, Fort San Felipe, Cavite. There are two operational PCFs in

9240-616: The start of Admiral Elmo Zumwalt 's " SEALORDS " riverway interdiction strategy, their primary area of operations soon centered upon the Cà Mau Peninsula and the Mekong Delta area in the southern tip of Vietnam. Here they patrolled the waterways and performed special operations, including gunfire support, troop insertion and evacuation, and raids into enemy territory. The Mekong Delta is composed of ten thousand square miles of marshland, swamps and forested areas. The region

9345-540: The survivors were on board, Point Dume departed the scene to drop them off at the Cua Viet Base for a medevac to Danang. In the meantime, the crew of PCF-12 , which had arrived on the scene at 01:50 to continue the search for survivors, noticed illumination rounds being fired that were not their own. Opting to investigate, the officer in charge ordered the boat to speed to the Cua Viet River. When PCF-12

9450-545: The time the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, the U.S. Coast Guard had already been transferred to the Navy by President Franklin Roosevelt . Created by Congress as the Revenue-Marine on 4 August 1790 at the request of Alexander Hamilton , it is the oldest continuously operating naval service of the United States. As Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton headed the Revenue-Marine, whose original purpose

9555-400: The use of the lanyard. The weapon had been tested in the 1950s and discarded as the U.S. Navy lost interest in the system. The United States Coast Guard maintained the gun/mortar system before the Navy incorporated it into the PCF program. Many boats also mounted a single M60 machine gun in the forward peak tank, just in front of the forward superstructure. The original order for 50 boats

9660-424: The various firing incidents occurring between 15 and 17 June. The board determined that Air Force F-4s launched two AIM-7E Sparrow missiles on 17 June at 01:15 and one at 03:15 that same day. Fragments of Sparrow missiles complete with serial numbers found on Boston and Hobart confirmed these findings. The case was therefore quite clear with regard to these two attacks on 17 June — Hobart and Boston had been

9765-446: The vessel. At 01:00 on 16 June 1968 in the same area, PCF-19 was struck by two missiles, one struck the cabin just below the pilothouse on the port side, the other hit the engine room. The boat sank in four minutes. Four of its crewmen were killed, and two others badly injured. The remaining crew managed to swim free from the sinking craft and cling to a life raft until USCGC  Point Dume arrived on scene at 01:30. As soon as

9870-533: The victims of friendly fire. The board also investigated the 16 June attacks on Boston and PCF-19 and the attack on Edson on the 17th. From the positions of American vessels and attacking aircraft, the board concluded that Air Force aircraft attacked Boston and PCF-19 on the 16th and that American aircraft also attacked Edson on the 17th. Unlike the Boston and Hobart attacks on the 17th, however, no physical evidence supported these findings. Later research of

9975-524: The war was PCF-4 , which was lost to a mine in 1966. Two boats, PCF-14 and PCF-76 , were lost in rough seas at the mouth of the Cua Viet River near the DMZ , and a third, PCF-77 , was lost in a rescue effort during a monsoon at the mouth of the Perfume River on the approach to Huế . All three of these boats were lost in 1966. PCF-41 was lost that same year in an ambush when it was hit by fire from

10080-420: Was 3 miles (4.8 km) from the river mouth, crewmembers observed two sets of aircraft lights off the port and starboard beam, about 300 yards (270 m) away and 100 feet (30 m) above the water. The boat commander immediately got on the radio and requested permission to engage the aircraft. At 02:25, PCF-12 received a single rocket from seaward at a low trajectory. The rocket passed a couple of feet over

10185-613: Was also merged into the U.S. Coast Guard. As one of the country's six armed services, the U.S. Coast Guard and its predecessor have participated in every major U.S. war since 1790, from the Quasi-War with France to the Global War on Terrorism . As of December 2021, the U.S. Coast Guard's authorized force strength is 44,500 active duty personnel and 7,000 reservists. The service's force strength also includes 8,577 full-time civilian federal employees and 31,000 uniformed volunteers of

10290-398: Was collecting customs duties at U.S. seaports. By the 1860s, the service was known as the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and the term Revenue-Marine gradually fell into disuse. The modern U.S. Coast Guard was formed by a merger of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Life-Saving Service on 28 January 1915, under the Department of the Treasury. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service

10395-498: Was damaged in the engagement; there were no personnel injured. On the afternoon of 16 June, Task Unit 77.1.0 ordered USS  Edson , USS  Theodore E. Chandler and the Royal Australian Navy guided-missile destroyer Hobart HMAS  Hobart to conduct a surveillance mission in the vicinity of Tiger Island in attempt to flush out any enemy helicopters or waterborne craft operating from there. At 01:18 on

10500-461: Was done at 8 to 10 knots, the boats could reach a top speed of 32 knots. Thick brush and vegetation in the delta provided excellent cover for the escaping ambushers. Casualties taken among the river crews were high. Casualties suffered among the VC were difficult to assess, as they would take their dead and wounded away from a firefight. Discovering newly dug graveyards was one of the few ways to confirm VC losses. The first Swift Boat to be lost during

10605-475: Was followed shortly by an additional order for 54 more Mark Is. In the latter half of 1967, 46 Mark II boats, with a modified deck house set further back from the bow. The newer boats also had round port holes (replacing larger sliding windows) in the aft superstructure. From 1969 through 1972, 33 Mark IIIs, which were a larger version of the Mark IIs, arrived in Vietnam. Most of the 193 PCFs built were used by

10710-576: Was implemented, several Swift Boats were turned over to the South Vietnamese Navy. On the night of 15/16 June 1968, U.S. marine aircraft spotters on the ground began reporting unidentified helicopters near the DMZ. The first report stated that four helicopters had been detected and were proceeding toward Tiger Island , just off the North Vietnamese coast at an altitude of 700–1,000 feet (210–300 m). These spotters observed

10815-446: Was in World War II , in all some 250,000 served in the Coast Guard during World War II. Coast Guard Squadron One , was a combat unit formed by the United States Coast Guard in 1965 for service during the Vietnam War . Placed under the operational control of the United States Navy, it was assigned duties in Operation Market Time . Its formation marked the first time since World War II that Coast Guard personnel were used extensively in

10920-406: Was inconsistent and the system still relied on all-volunteer crews. In 1871, Sumner Increase Kimball was appointed chief of the Treasury Department's newly created Revenue Marine Division, and began the process of organizing the Revenue-Marine cutters into a centralized agency. Kimball also pushed for more funding lifesaving stations and eventually secured approval to create the Lifesaving Service as

11025-465: Was searching a 5-mile radius area between the coast and Tiger Island with its radar, it detected a single aircraft tracking east. The aircraft was not squawking IFF. An attempt was made to identify the aircraft by visual gun direction personnel on the bridge. Five minutes later a missile slammed into the chief petty officers' mess and nearby spaces, killing one sailor and wounding two others. The ship took evasive action but temporarily lost radar contact with

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