Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping new initiative to overhaul the US Coast Guard, describing it as the service’s most significant transformation in over a century.
At a commencement ceremony for 262 graduating cadets at the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., Noem outlined “Force Design 2028,” a Trump Administration plan to modernize and restructure the Coast Guard for the challenges of the 21st century.
“A new chapter for America’s Coast Guard, one like we have never seen before, starts right now,” Noem told cadets and families gathered on Cadet Memorial Field.
“Now, more than ever, the American people need a strong and capable Coast Guard,” said Noem. “The Coast Guard must not simply evolve. It must revolutionize how it functions and operates to ensure decisive advantage over adversaries. This requires a fundamental change. Force Design 2028 is the bold blueprint needed to drive urgent action and win.”
Noem also announced President Donald Trump’s nomination of Adm. Kevin E. Lunday to serve as the 28th commandant of the Coast Guard. Lunday will continue serving as acting commandant until confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Lunday replaces former Commandant Linda Fagan, who was relieved of her duties on Trump’s second day in office, Jan. 21. Lunday has ben serving in an acting capacity since then. He will require congressional approval.
The Force Design 2028 initiative centers on four strategic focus areas: people, organization, acquisition and contracting, and technology. Key goals include increasing the Coast Guard workforce by 15,000 personnel, modernizing outdated infrastructure, streamlining leadership, and enhancing maritime and air operational capabilities.
Noem described Force Design 2028 as a “roadmap to revolutionize the Coast Guard” and said it would address longstanding readiness gaps.
FD2028 outlines several key initiatives and improvement areas:
- Establish a service secretary: This initiative establishes a legislatively authorized, secretary of the Coast Guard nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. This secretary would report directly to the secretary of Homeland Security and provide civilian leadership, oversight, accountability and advocacy, with authorities comparable to secretaries of other military services.
- People: FD2028 seeks to grow the Coast Guard’s military workforce by at least 15,000 members by the end of fiscal year 2028 to restore readiness and support a growing fleet and new capabilities. Initiatives include transforming the workforce by aligning with the president’s executive order on “Restoring America’s Fighting Force” and instituting a physical fitness test, modernizing enlisted accessions and investing in recruiting incentives, investing in officer leader growth through various programs, revitalizing the Coast Guard Reserve with a focus on mobilization readiness and streamlining policies and processes for the civilian workforce.
- Organizational Design: Reform the Coast Guard’s organizational structure to become more effective, enabling a leaner, more agile and strategically focused Headquarters by streamlining processes and eliminating redundancies. Key initiatives include designing the future force to win by embracing strategic planning and establishing a futures development and integration function, creating program executive offices for a systems-focused approach to acquisitions and sustainment, establishing a Deployable Specialized Forces command for improved integration and interoperability, strengthening Coast Guard Cyber Command to address cyber and space threats, transferring operational and service-delivery functions out of headquarters.
- Technology: Position the Coast Guard to become a leader in the adoption and use of advanced technology, human-machine teaming and data. Initiatives include creating Coastal Sentinel, a next-generation integrated sensor network leveraging artificial intelligence for unprecedented threat identification, supporting a revitalized U.S. maritime industry by replacing antiquated systems for vessel registration and mariner credentials, supporting workforce growth with a modern human resources information technology system incorporating artificial intelligence, delivering an improved logistics system for conditions-based maintenance, and establishing a rapid response prototype team to quickly identify, adopt and deliver advanced technology capabilities.
- Contracting and acquisitions: Streamline processes to better respond to emerging threats, strengthen industry coordination and prioritize speed and flexibility. The service will reform acquisition practices to deliver needed capabilities—including icebreakers and unmanned systems, while managing risk. Changes include establishing a disciplined requirements process, assigning senior acquisition authority to the secretary of the Coast Guard, creating a senior procurement executive role, outsourcing procurement activities for effectiveness and designating single points of accountability to empower program managers.
The Coast Guard, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, has faced chronic funding and personnel shortages in recent decades. The Trump Administration’s Force Design 2028 aims to reverse that trend with a comprehensive, forward-looking strategy.
The initiative, as Noem put it, the start of “a new era for America’s Coast Guard.”
In addition to Lunday, Trump announced these new officers:
- VADM Thomas G. Allan Jr. – Vice Commandant
- RADM Douglas M. Schofield – Chief of Staff
- VADM Nathan A. Moore – Deputy Commandant for Operations
- RADM Jo-Ann F. Burdian – Atlantic Area Commander
- RADM Joseph R. Buzzella – Pacific Area Commander
Read the FD 2028 executive report here.
As Chuck Schumer got his panties in a twist over the Mexican sailing vessel that lost engine power and rammed the Brooklyn bridge blaming the President for the mishap we now have a “reliable” commandant to prevent those “lapse in good judgment” events. LOL
According to Chuck, Bush Sr. would have been at fault for the Exxon Valdez running amuck on the reef.