The USCG was established in 1790 by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton as the Revenue Marine Service. It subsequently became the Revenue Cutter Service and, in 1915, was combined with the U.S. Lifesaving Service ( form 1878 ) to become the Coast Guard. It was under the ( peacetime ) legal power of the Treasury Department until 1967, when it was transferred to the Department of Transportation. In 2003 the Coast Guard was placed under the legal power of the newly created Department of Homeland Security .
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The Coast Guard enforces all applicable federal laws on the high seas and waters within the territorial legal power of the United States. It administers laws and promulgates and enforces regulations for the promotion of condom of animation and property along the entire U.S. coast, including Alaska and Hawaii. It develops and operates aids to seafaring in regulate to maintain the guard of ports and vessels in U.S. territorial waters .
World War II: Iwo Jima U.S. Coast Guard and Navy vessels landing supplies on the Marine beachhead at Iwo Jima, February 1945.
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Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The peacetime duties of the Coast Guard involve the inspection of vessels and their equipment and the direction and mathematical process of lighthouses, lightships, buoys, and such electronic navigational aids as loran ( long-range navigation ) stations and radio beacons. The Coast Guard maintains an extensive network of lifeboat and search-and-rescue stations using surface vessels and aircraft. It besides operates the International Ice Patrol, which maintains surveillance of iceberg in the North Atlantic transportation lanes. The USCG besides gathers data for the National Weather Service and assists distressed ships and planes. wartime duties include escorting ships, securing ports, and manning transports. The Coast Guard besides assists in the interdict of illegal narcotics that enter the United States on or over coastal waters .
EgyptAir flight 990 recovery The USS Grapple ( right field ) and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Reliance help in the convalescence efforts of the EgyptAir flight 990 wreckage off the slide of Nantucket, Massachusetts .MATT YORK/AP Images
U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker The U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy ( foreground ) in the Arctic Ocean, 2009 .Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Kelley/U.S. Coast Guard (090905-G-8744K-184) The Coast Guard ’ s constitution parallels that of the U.S. Navy, and Coast Guard ranks and ratings are identical to those of the Navy. The two services ’ uniforms are besides similar. The USCG is headed by a Coast Guard admiral who is appointed by the president. Coast Guard Reserve was established in 1939. Women have been permitted to serve in the regular Coast Guard since 1973. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is located in New London, Connecticut.
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