Recommendations 



In order to meet the complex SAR requirements on an orderly and 

 logical basis, there should be an operations research study that will en- 

 able the Coast Guard to develop a coordinated long-range plan for 

 total mission accomplishment. An essential requirement, both for im- 

 mediate and long-range SAR purposes, is a program of progressive 

 replacement of obsolescent vessels, particularly those handling the 

 bulk of the SAR workload. 



The Coast Guard should encourage State and local authorities to 

 develop SAR facilities in inland navigable waters in accordance with 

 the National SAR Plan. 



Ocean Stations 



The ocean station program had its inception in a pre-World War II 

 need for meteorological and navigational aid services for transoceanic 

 aircraft flights. Since then the program has increased and diminished 

 according to wartime versus peacetime requirements and the austerity 

 of budget policy. 



The Coast Guard now provides the equivalent of 18 vessels operat- 

 ing full time to support 6 ocean stations — 4 in the North Atlantic and 

 2 in the Pacific. These vessels, while on station, perform the follow- 

 ing functions : 



a. Collect and transmit meteorological information to the Weather 

 Bureau, enroute aircraft, and vessels. 



b. Maintain readiness to perform search and rescue missions. 



c. Provide aircraft and vessels with aids to navigation information. 



d. Relay aircraft and vessel communications. 



e. Collect, collate, and transmit time-series oceanographic informa- 

 tion. 



f . Provide a supplementary national defense capability. 



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