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“Go Be Brilliant”—Leadership When There Is No Playbook: 9/11, Coast Guard Activities New York, and Rear Adm. Richard Bennis
—After 9/11, the New York maritime evacuation was only the beginning. Facing months of unprecedented port security demands, Rear Adm. Richard Bennis gave his leaders three words: “Go be brilliant.” Behind that simple charge was a command culture built on trust, preparation, relationships, and the freedom to innovate when no playbook existed.
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From Near Extinction to Rebirth: The Coast Guard’s First Reorganization
—A federal efficiency drive nearly erased the Revenue Cutter Service. Instead, Sumner Kimball and Ellsworth Bertholf turned crisis into a merger that joined cutters with lifesaving stations, created the modern Coast Guard in 1915, and forged a military service ready for World War I.
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Alexander Hamilton and the Coast Guard as a U.S. Military Service
—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.
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MCPOCG #1 Charles Calhoun—leader, mentor, trailblazer and NSC namesake
—“Charlie remembered the overall feeling of frustration at the lack of communication, or “voice,” in matters that affected every sailor in the field.”
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Never give up
—The Coast Guard officially welcomed its tenth Legend Class National Security Cutter, USCGC Calhoun WMSL 759, in a commissioning ceremony April 20, 2024, in Charleston, South Carolina.