By Kathy Hart 



If your vessel is on fire or your 

 boat is taking on water, who do 

 you call? 



The United States Coast Guard. 



The Coast Guard is well known 

 for its aid to boats and ships in 

 distress. In fact, Coast Guard crews 

 save 16 lives, assist 361 people and 

 salvage about $2.5 million in prop- 

 erty on an average day. 



But search and rescue is just one 

 Coast Guard mission. The men and 

 women of the Coast Guard do 

 many jobs. They apprehend drug 

 smugglers, replace buoys, clean up 

 oil spills and inspect vessels for 

 safety violations. 



The Coast Guard is the primary 

 federal agency entrusted with 

 maritime law enforcement. But 

 what started as a simple directive 

 has mushroomed. 



Today's Coast Guardsmen are 

 trained in everything from first aid 

 to fishery regulations to federal 

 drug laws, says Lt. Martin Phillips, 

 commander of the Cape Hatteras 

 Group. 



In North Carolina, the Coast 

 Guard operates eight shore sta- 

 tions, one base at Fort Macon, one 

 air station at Elizabeth City and a 

 Marine Safety Office in Wilmington. 



Four stations and 150 guardsmen 

 fall under Phillips' command in 

 Group Cape Hatteras. The stations 

 are located at Coinjock, Hatteras, 

 Oregon Inlet and Ocracoke. 



Four stations, one base and 280 

 guardsmen work under the com- 

 mand of Lt. Cmdr. Dale Ward in 

 Group Fort Macon. The stations 

 dot the coast at Hobucken, Swans- 

 boro, Wrightsville Beach and Oak 

 Island. 



The Fort Macon and Cape Hat- 

 teras groups are part of the Coast 

 Guard's 5th District that extends 

 from New Jersey to North Caro- 

 lina. The district headquarters is in 

 Portsmouth, Va. 



The Coast Guard is an armed 

 force of the United States and is 

 equal in status to the Army, Navy, 

 Air Force and Marine Corps. In 

 peacetime, the Coast Guard serves 

 within the Department of Trans- 

 portation. During a war or by pres- 

 idential decree, it reports to the 

 U.S. Navy. 



In 1915, the Treasury Depart- 

 ment formed the Coast Guard 

 when it combined the Lifesaving 

 Service and Revenue Cutter Ser- 

 vice. In 1967, it was transferred 

 from the Treasury Department to 

 the Transportation Department. 



Initially, the Coast Guard fol- 

 lowed in the footsteps of its paren- 

 tal organizations and confined its 

 duties to rescue and intercepting 

 contraband. During Prohibition, 

 which lasted from 1920 through 

 1933, guardsmen concentrated on 

 apprehending rum runners, or li- 

 quor smugglers. 



After Prohibition and World War 

 II, the Coast Guard's primary re- 

 sponsibility shifted to aiding navi- 

 gation and safety at sea. 



During the 1970s, smuggling 

 again reared its head. But this time, 

 the illegal merchandise cached 

 aboard vessels was multimillion- 

 dollar shipments of marijuana and 

 cocaine. 



Nationwide, on an average day, 

 the Coast Guard seizes 3,500 

 pounds of marijuana and 35 

 pounds of cocaine that total about 



$6.5 million. Also on an average 

 day, guardsmen help other agencies 

 confiscate another 243 pounds of 

 marijuana and 26 pounds of co- 

 caine worth $3.5 million. 



They arrest two smugglers daily 

 and seize a drug vessel every two 

 days. 



The effort expended by the Coast 

 Guard to apprehend drug smug- 

 glers has increased four- to five-fold 

 in the last 10 years, Ward says. And 

 Ward and Phillips agree that with 

 the increase in drug traffic has 

 come an increase in danger for 

 guardsmen. Drug smugglers are 

 frequently armed. 



Now boarding officers must be 

 trained to know drug laws, proper 

 boarding procedure, drug detection 

 and recognition, and self-defense. 

 Often Coast Guard officers are 

 trained alongside U.S. Customs 

 agents in detection methods. 



"Every time we find a method 

 smugglers are using to conceal 

 drugs, they come up with a new 

 way," Ward says. 



Once a vessel carrying contra- 

 band is seized, it is turned over to 

 U.S. Customs for processing by the 

 U.S. Attorney General, Ward says. 



Although North Carolina is no 

 Florida, its secluded inlets, islands 

 and bays are inviting transfer spots 

 for smugglers. 



"The North Carolina waterways 

 are perfect," Ward says. "Smugglers 

 can get in and out quickly. That's 

 why pirates frequented the North 

 Carolina coast." 



Although drug enforcement may 

 be the Coast Guard's toughest 

 assignment, it's not its only one. 

 During the 1970s and 1980s, Con- 



