CG rating reflects expanding security missionBy Susan Gvozdas - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 28, 2009 6:12:48 EDT
The Coast Guard is placing greater emphasis on a security job that has become more complex and critical since Sept. 11, 2001, by creating a new career track.
The maritime enforcement specialist rating, which stands up Jan. 1, will replace and expand on the port security specialist rating, which was manned entirely by reservists, said Lt. Cmdr. Clayton Beal, the rating’s implementation project manager.
The ME rating, which will have an active-duty component, will provide a more solid career path for those who are securing ports and working on boarding teams, Beal said.
No longer a collateral duty that takes active-duty members out of their rating — and away from advancement opportunities — boarding teams will be made of members promoted within their own ratings. Coast Guard officials believe this will sharpen their overall expertise, Beal said.
He explained how the lack of an active-duty rating can hinder some careers, using the example of an electronics technician who has been a canine handler for a maritime safety and security team for six years.
“During that time he’s done a phenomenal job, so he hasn’t had a chance to keep current in his rating,” Beal said.
If the electronics technician wants to remain a canine handler, he will lose his opportunity to advance. If he moves back into his rating, the Coast Guard will have to train someone else to handle dogs.
“The organization loses because we invested all these resources to get them these skills,” said Beal, who faced the same problem as a boatswain’s mate assigned to a law enforcement detachment for three years.
Such situations have become more common as homeland security obligations have increased.
There are more regulations to keep track of since the Sept. 11 attacks, so it has become harder to rotate people in and out of port security jobs, Maritime Enforcement Specialist Rating Force Master Chief Gordon Muise said.
“This is 30 years in the coming,” he said. “We’re doing more security duties than we did in the past.”
Since World War I, Coast Guard port security specialists have been charged with securing ports in the U.S. and abroad. The Port Security “A” school was commissioned at the Coast Guard’s training center in Yorktown, Va., in 1969.
Port security specialists enforce maritime laws and regulations and serve in port security units that deploy in support of Defense Department operations. About 30 percent of the current cadre of 1,000 port security specialists are assigned to port security units deployed overseas, Beal said. The rest are assigned to various stations and sectors, serving on migrant or drug interdiction teams, doing boat inspections, or drilling and training others.
The Coast Guard Training Center held its last port security specialist class Sept. 4. In February, the maritime enforcement “A” school will stand up in Charleston, S.C., in the Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. The first class will graduate in the spring.
Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Neil Canuel, operations petty officer of Coast Guard Station Little Creek, Va., applied for the new rating. He has been trying to balance boatswain’s mate prerequisites while volunteering for more law enforcement duties during the past eight years.
“I’m really looking forward to continue to specialize [in law enforcement],” said Canuel, who is on a vessel boarding security team and is featured on a recruiting poster for the new rating. “This rating is going to serve not only the Coast Guard and its mission, but it’s going to serve its people well.”
The meaning of ‘ME’The maritime enforcement specialist rating — ME — will have 1,040 active-duty billets and 1,186 reserve billets. Coast Guardsmen have until Oct. 2 to apply for a lateral move into the rating. A panel will make selections and notify service members if they have been approved by November, Maritime Enforcement Specialist Rating Force Master Chief Gordon Muise said.
MEs will be able to serve at Coast Guard stations and police departments; on law enforcement detachments aboard Navy ships; on the maritime security response team, designed to handle extreme situations, such as terrorism; on maritime safety and security teams, which promote boat safety and port security; or on cutters conducting migrant or drug interdiction missions.
Original Article
