ALCOAST 267/17 - SEP 2017 9/11 — A SECOND “DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY”

R 110500 SEP 17
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CG-092//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS//N05700//
ALCOAST 267/17
COMDTNOTE 5700
SUBJ: 9/11 — A SECOND “DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY”
1. President Franklin Roosevelt referred to December 7th, 1941, the day of the
attack on Pearl Harbor, as “a date which will live in infamy.” Tragically, the nation
would face a similar date nearly 60 years later on September 11, 2001. On this date,
sixteen years ago, terrorists hijacked four airliners, crashing two into the World Trade
Center, one into the Pentagon, and one intended for the Capitol into a field in
Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 individuals, over 500 more than Pearl Harbor.
2. Our Coast Guard units and personnel were some of the first military responders,
providing communications and security, evacuating civilians by water and assisting
those in need, and addressing environmental hazards.  Days later, Operation Noble Eagle
deployed more Coast Guard men and women for port security, search and rescue and
clean-up operations. Thousands of Coast Guard Auxiliarists and Reservists were
mobilized in the largest homeland defense and port security operation since World War
II.
3. Eleven days after 9/11, President George W. Bush set up the Office of Homeland
Security and, in November 2002, he created the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS). By March 2003, the Coast Guard had left the Department of Transportation,
becoming the largest agency within DHS.
4. Under President Bush, Coast Guard Intelligence became part of the nation’s
intelligence community and the Service commissioned Maritime Information
Fusion Centers (MIFC) to provide intelligence to Coast Guard Area units.
5. President Bush also signed the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA)
to protect the nation’s ports and waterways from terrorist attacks. The MTSA led to the
formation of our International Port Security Program to monitor security standards in
foreign ports. Under the MTSA, the Coast Guard also formed 13 Maritime Safety and
Security Teams (MSST), supporting the Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security (PWCS)
mission and providing non-compliant vessel boarding capability. The Service began to
form the Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT) on the East Coast in 2004 and, in
2013, began forming a second MSRT on the West Coast. In 2007, the Service stood-up
the Deployable Operations Group (DOG) to oversee Deployable Specialized Forces
(DSF), such as MSSTs, MSRTs, Port Security Units, National Strike Force teams,
Regional Dive Locker personnel and Tactical Law Enforcement Teams (TACLETs).
Later, the Area commands re-assumed tactical control of DSFs.
6. After 9/11, the Coast Guard focused on unity of effort and responsiveness by setting up
Joint Harbor Operations Centers in its port commands in early 2002. In 2005, it
established “Sector” commands that combined Marine Safety Offices, Vessel Traffic
Services, and Group activities under one command.
7. Beginning in October 2001, the Coast Guard supported Operation Enduring Freedom
with port security, force protection and military outload security.  Early 2003 saw
deployment of cutters and DSFs in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Coast Guard stood-up
new units like the Redeployment Assistance and Inspection Detachment (RAID) and
Patrol Forces Southwest Asia (PATFORSWA), which continues to support cutters and
DSFs in the Northern Arabian Gulf.
8. 9/11 changed the Coast Guard.  We changed focus, formed new units, altered
existing units and transitioned to a new federal agency demonstrating its flexibility
and relevance in the Service’s greatest transformation since World War II. For more on
the Coast Guard response to 9/11, visit the Historian’s Office website at:
http://www.uscg.mil/history/Noble_Eagle_Index.asp
9. RDML P. Gautier, Director of Governmental and Public Affairs, sends.
10. Internet release authorized.