Defenders of Our Nation

From World War II convoys and Cold War port security to Desert Storm, Deepwater Horizon, and pandemic response, the Reserve has spent 85 years surging into crises at home and overseas—providing the extra force the service needs when the stakes are highest.

Carrying a Speed Graphic through bombs, bullets, and surf from Sicily to Salerno, Normandy, and Southern France, Coast Guard photographer Robert Sargent turned one LCVP’s approach to Omaha Beach into “Into the Jaws of Death”—an image that came to define D Day even as the man behind the lens faded into a footnote.

As new mission threats have evolved, the Coast Guard’s canine team capability has also evolved.

With the need for maintaining security zones at anchorages, in the seaway, and alongside ships offloading military cargoes, the role and training for port security forces emerged as a priority for the Coast Guard.

From Hamilton’s “few armed vessels” to cutters and LEDETs in modern war zones, a small revenue force evolved into a full-fledged armed service that has answered every call from the age of sail to the Global War on Terrorism.

A wrench for a weapon. Haze, shellfire, and the first air‑sea clash in home waters—told through a daring low‑level attack that sent a marauding U‑boat diving for its life.

Whiteouts, razor ice, and lurking U‑boats—inside the little-known Arctic campaign where sled patrols, convoys, and daring rescues kept a vital lifeline alive.

Since the late 1800s, the United States Coast Guard and its predecessor agencies have played an essential role in U.S. polar operations. A new kind of ship, the icebreaker, evolved to serve U.S. commercial and strategic interests spread in the Arctic.

Drewry’s Bluff put the Revenue Marine’s gunboat E.A. Stevens to the test, marking a leap from wood and sail to iron and steam.

The Coast Guard established the Ancient Mariner Award in 1978 to honor the officer and enlisted cuttermen who personify the dedication and professionalism associated with long service at sea and have held the distinction of cutterman longer than any other officer or enlisted member.