CG Escorting Ferry

This is escorting us across Puget Sound this afternoon - gun at bow is manned.

This was on the other side!

Bomb threats (I' sure terrorist threats now) are common on ferries.

At Cape May, NJ...we used to fly the bomb sniffing dogs to the local ferries pretty regularly.

A sleazy phone call or cryptic note is all it takes for the heightened security.

Yep-you never know when those .50 cal's will come in handy in case there is a mass attack on the ferry! I see these guys all the time. Quite honestly, I find the whole CG thing now a bit over the top. The black (dark blue?) outfits with sidearms, automatic weapons and the .50 cal is too much for me. Although, the company that builds the Ribs (in Port Angeles I believe) is doing pretty well.

BTW-those are reverse-slanted windows on the CG Ribs! Did you check the anchor?

THD said:

Yep-you never know when those .50 cal's will come in handy in case there is a mass attack on the ferry! I see these guys all the time. Quite honestly, I find the whole CG thing now a bit over the top. The black (dark blue?) outfits with sidearms, automatic weapons and the .50 cal is too much for me. Although, the company that builds the Ribs (in Port Angeles I believe) is doing pretty well.

BTW-those are reverse-slanted windows on the CG Ribs! Did you check the anchor?

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Have any experience with large scale security of a moving asset?

The 50's are just a statement for when things go differently than expected.

While Ben Franklin said this ""Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."...and I agree whole heartedly with it.

The problem is the absolute waste of human life types cry bloody murder when something evil does happen...thus the intolerable crap at some airports and cruise ship embarkation as well as the security infrastructure that was born after 911 to protect those too weak to protect themselves.
Let evil take a foothold...just look back to WWII and now North Korea and parts of the Middle East.

Another good quote is.... "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

So 50 cals, black suits and automatic weapons in the hands of good people may not be such a bad thing.

Let's hope there are lots of good people in the various security, police and military ranks. Cause it just takes a few nuts to make a mess.

Most of the locals here carry 30-calibre MGs, here passing through the Coot's wake:



As well as shotguns, M-14s, and sidearms.

Nothing in the news and the current Maritime Security (MARSEC) is still at a level 1 for the ports of Seattle and Everett. It may also be a drill or training.

Plus it's the end of a long holiday weekend, lots of people heading home. So a good time for Homeland Security to be proactive.

PS-I do have sympathy with your points and in fact feel the same way about many of them and I very much appreciate Old Ben's words of wisdom. Unfortunately, we are well past that point. That said, the overriding question to me is "Do I fell, and am I in fact, safer than before most of the security measures of the past ten years?" To me, the short answer is No, I really don't. I do have some security experience, and a good bit of experience working in DC. My problem is that the entire security apparatus that has been built up is almost entirely ad hoc. Much, if not most of it, pushed by the vendors of the equipment. To my knowledge, especially with airport security, there has never been a systematic study of the dangers faced and logical, workable means of ameliorating those dangers. Instead, security agencies have almost unfettered ability to do as they see fit and spend as they see fit. So, a guy is on a plane with a bomb in his sneaker that could not possibly damage a 747, and we take our shoes off at airports for the next 10 years.

I have a very good friend who is a recognized expert in security risk analysis. Dinner conversations with him are vary scary conversations. At the risk of giving the NSA something to analyze, pick almost any venue, event, or infrastructure and spend five minutes thinking about how you could quite easily cause an event of pretty major proportions. According to him, it ain't too hard.

So, yes, I want security, but I want it first and foremost effective, directed at true threats, and the least intrusive possible.

Sorry for the rant, this is just a little bug for me!

M-60 on the bow;7.62 Caliber; not a .50. Coot M-14's were taken out of the inventory back in the late 90's.

THD A pet peeve of mine as well. They have those here now 1000K inland on the great lakes and inland waterways. Started out as "normal" patrol boats with normally armed officers, they have since graduated to actual armored gunships, full battle dress and armed beyond any semblance of common sense or reality. They are reminicent of the PT boats from WW2, next I expect to see anti-submarine mines stacked on deck. It's all gone way past the point of absurdity.

I don't know enough about the CG security to make an authoritative comment, but airport security is clearly "Security Theater"

I have no issue with the Coast Guard or any other LE agency showing a little muscle. If it creates any deterrent, real or perceived, I am all for it. Are we still vulnerable as a Nation, you bet we are but a strong Military and Police presence cant hurt. I spent a couple years in Israel and I can tell you that from a security standpoint, no one does it better. This country still has much to learn about security and unfortunately it may get worse before it gets better. Not trying to get political but 50 cal guns mounted on USCG assets make me smile .....Just my 2 cents. Slowpoke

Slowpoke said:

I have no issue with the Coast Guard or any other LE agency showing a little muscle. If it creates any deterrent, real or perceived, I am all for it. Are we still vulnerable as a Nation, you bet we are but a strong Military and Police presence cant hurt. I spent a couple years in Israel and I can tell you that from a security standpoint, no one does it better. This country still has much to learn about security and unfortunately it may get worse before it gets better. Not trying to get political but 50 cal guns mounted on USCG assets make me smile .....Just my 2 cents. Slowpoke

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I don't like the direction in which we're headed. We don't live in Israel, surrounded on all sides by extremely hostile and active neighbors and I don't want soldiers or paramilitary types patrolling our streets.

Soon after 9/11 I noticed a new message on the electronic highway signs, "Report suspicious activity". I thought, "Oh, boy, here we go." Now we're supposed to live in constant fear and report on our neighbors. That's not the America in which I grew up (to quote some of my more right-wing friends).

This is just another example of how the terrorists have achieved many of their goals - drain our treasury, exhaust our military and make us live in fear.

psneeld said:

So 50 cals, black suits and automatic weapons in the hands of good people may not be such a bad thing.

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Yeah, other than a waste of taxpayer money. WTF does the CG need a machine gun for in Vallejo or the San Juan Islands?

If I happened to be on a ferry when the proverbial shi! hit the fan, I'd want at least a couple hundred of those USCG boats surrounding the ferry.

For those of you who think this is some serious overkill (bad pun, sorry) on the part of the USCG, perhaps you should follow this link and read the attached article. Then decide which group you fall into and if that's the group you should be in.
On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs - Dave Grossman

Me, I'm a sheepdog, and happy to be in that group.

Proud card carrying LEOSA guy. (look it up!)

GFC said:

If I happened to be on a ferry when the proverbial shi! hit the fan, I'd want at least a couple hundred of those USCG boats surrounding the ferry.

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Why? What good would machine guns do if a bomb went off on the ferry?

bligh said:

Why? What good would machine guns do if a bomb went off on the ferry?

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They can shoot the survivors?

City police shooing off a boat which had approached our ship too close.

Capt Kangeroo said:

THD A pet peeve of mine as well. They have those here now 1000K inland on the great lakes and inland waterways. Started out as "normal" patrol boats with normally armed officers, they have since graduated to actual armored gunships, full battle dress and armed beyond any semblance of common sense or reality. They are reminicent of the PT boats from WW2, next I expect to see anti-submarine mines stacked on deck. It's all gone way past the point of absurdity.

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We have just got to fortify the northern boarder. Mexicans may try to come over, you know.

Moonstruck said:

We have just got to fortify the northern boarder...

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Dang, you're gonna FEED them? <grin>

markpierce said:

City police shooing off a boat which had approached our ship too close.

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Wow! How did they manage it without a machine gun!

I agree its not the same America that we grew up in. The world has become a more dangerous place. As far as the USCG having Blue Uniforms, Sidearms and 50 Cal Rifles at the ready consider their mission. Gone are the days of the Revenue Cutters collecting tariffs. Todays Coast Guard has a much larger mission in scope and operation.
"The U. S. Coast Guard is simultaneously and at all times a military force and federal law enforcement agency dedicated to safety, security, and stewardship missions. We save lives. We protect the environment. We defend the homeland. We enforce Federal laws on the high seas, the nation's coastal waters and its inland waterways. We are unique in the Nation and the world."
It appears some here would rather have the USCG operate without the evil "Machine Gun" but I don't know what credible threats those men and women in blue uniforms are responding to or training for. I would rather they be prepared for anything and everything and this taxpayer is OK with that.
Slowpoke

bligh said:

Wow! How did they manage it without a machine gun!

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Loudspeaker (but of course they were also equipped with firearms, ticket book, and handcuffs.)

Slowpoke said:

...
It appears some here would rather have the USCG operate without the evil "Machine Gun" but I don't know what credible threats those men and women in blue uniforms are responding to or training for. I would rather they be prepared for anything and everything and this taxpayer is OK with that.
Slowpoke

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Machine guns are neat if not pointed at me. ... I feel safer around law-abiding people with firearms.

Does anyone not remember or know about the USS Cole terrorist attack?

N4712 said:

Does anyone not remember or know about the USS Cole terrorist attack?

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Yes, but how is that relevant to this thread?

bligh said:

Yes, but how is that relevant to this thread?

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A little pleasure boat (could be anyone) packed with explosives was run into a ship.


That very well could happen in this situation. So the CG be there they would be able to respond and neutralize the threat.

N4712 said:

A little pleasure boat (could be anyone) packed with explosives was run into a ship.

That very well could happen in this situation. So the CG be there they would be able to respond and neutralize the threat.

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Let's put aside the fact that the Cole incident happened halfway around the world for a moment.
Do you really think that a rubber boat manned with kids and a machine gun could pick out a terrorist boat and it's intended target in a crowded harbor (also assuming they were in the same harbor) and actually stop it from blowing up? Seriously?

I'm not ant gun. I just think that a CG RIB with a machine gun on it in areas infested with hippies and baby boomers is over the top.

This may not be the case in Florida or near the Mexican border where there is drug and human trafficking.
If I'm wrong (i am a self admitted jackass) I'd like to hear of a case in a similar area where 'machine guns' were needed to enforce the law.