The Mission - Most of us have a basic understanding of what the Coast Guard does for our country everyday. The agency has continued to be tasked with its traditional missions, search and rescue, pollution response, drug interdiction and boating safety. In the aftermath of September 11th and creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard has seen its responsibilities increase and original mission creep. Continuing to support it legacy missions, the agency took on additional duties to protect our shores from terrorism and better secure the borders.
There are 95,000 miles of coastline for the Coast Guard protect in the United States, spanning a remarkable diversity of terrain and geographic conditions. Marine waters are used by commercial lobstermen in Maine, cruisers following the intercoastal waterway of Florida, workboats serving oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, container box ships docking in the Port of Los Angeles, and oil tankers offloading at Cherry Point, Washington. Adding the waters of Hawaii and Alaska brings another order of magnitude into describing this diversity. Some 78,000 boaters use these waters of the United States each year.
History of Rescue 21 - Missions and contacts with the boating public depend on the Coast Guard having good operational communications. The Coast Guard, like many other military organizations refers to the interaction of communications and operations as command, control, and communications (C3). A national system was constructed by the agency in the 1970's to receive and react to marine VHF radio distress calls. Facing gaps in its area coverage and failures in existing technology, the Coast Guard proposed moving in a new direction in the 1990's.
It was called National Distress and Response System Modernization Program (NDRSMP). NDRSMP would replace the current communications system and provide the Coast Guard with a greatly advanced C system. There were probably other good reasons for it, but since NDRSMP just doesn't roll off the tongue, the new initiative was renamed Rescue 21 in September 2002. Both phases of the Rescue 21 contract were awarded to General Dynamics of Scottsdale, Arizona. Work on the new program first began in the northeast during 2003 with the first rescue attributed to Rescue 21 being made in November of 2005.
Components and Technology Used in the Rescue 21 System
Components: - Rescue 21 replaces many aging radio systems and employs a number of new components in the field.
- More than 270 communication consoles installed in key Coast Guard facilities
- 350 new remote transceiver sites improve radio coverage and network connectivity
- More than 3,000 portable VHF radios for Coast Guard personnel
- Installation of new transceivers in Coast Guard assets like helicopters, cutters and small boats
- Construction of portable transceiver stations and towers for use in natural disasters
New Technology: - Rescue 21 will adopt a number of new technologies to improve its communications system and boater safety.
- Incusion of direction finding equipment accurate to 2 degrees
- Enhanced interoperability of radios used by multiple agencies
- Improved quality of radio sound and clarity of distress calls
- Implementation of Digital Selective Calling (DSC) service for radios equipped with DSC
- Archival of distress calls and ability to monitor multiple channels simultaneously
Rescue 21 in Distress - Recent findings of a General Accounting Office (GAO) audit show Rescue 21 to be substantially behind its initial operational capacity goal of system roll out in 2003 and build out of the entire system by 2006. Completion of the project is at least a year late. Delays have been caused by a number of factors. The contractor failed to mobilize subcontractors in a timely manner and environmental concerns slowed construction of the many required remote transceiver sites.
The GAO recommended that a new schedule be prepared for reaching initial operational capacity and the Coast Guard agreed with the finding. The delays are worth the wait. If the Coast Guard can reach their operational goal of communicating via DSC, being able to receive an one-watt radio signal from 20 miles offshore and increasing system coverage to 98% of the United States coastline, it will benefit every mariner.
