Active-Reserve Integration in the Coast Guard

The US Coast Guard has a long history of successfully integrating disparate organizations into a unified military organization. In 1915 the Coast Guard was created by combining the Revenue-Cutter Service with the Lifesaving Service. Subsequent additions to the Coast Guard's functions were those of the Lighthouse Service in 1939 and of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation in 1946. The Coast Guard Reserve grew out of a need for port security and ship crews during mobilization for World War II. After the war, the Coast Guard Reserve operated as a separate entity from the Active Coast Guard before drawing attention in the late 196Os and early 197Os for its lack of use. Since then, the Coast Guard has slowly and steadily undergone a process of augmentation, alignment, consolidation, and integration of its Active and Reserve Components. Today, Team Coast Guard represents a fully integrated service. The story of how the Coast Guard developed since its inception over 80 years ago can be instructional to the Department of Defense as it considers making better use of the Active and Reserve Components of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.