Ice Breakers needed

I'm amazed it took President Obama this long to make the connect. Year after year the Obama administration has requested smaller Coast Guard budgets and Congress has had to increase it. Year after year the Coast Guard sounded off about the need for new ice breakers and the Department of Homeland Security and OMB banned the use of "ice breaker" by their public affairs folks… so they called them "ice capable cutters." When I was still a cadet there was an article on the front page of the New York Times about the opening of the Arctic….

And yet Obama has had seven years to do something and has done nothing (but nearly ended out modernization efforts). So now he's in his final year and gets this "idea?" It sounds a lot like "hey, do this, find the money… now I'm peacing out."

And a good deal of this is because Coast Guard leadership (read Admiral Allen and Admiral Papp) haven't had the guts to push for this… and the Coast Guard fleet, especially the red hull guys and gals suffer for it.

Do you REALLY think the U.S. will catch up? HECK NO! And if it even started down that road, I have no doubt that the Navy would find some way to move into that space… as it did with its brown water capabilities and the LCS.
 
Thanks Grunt! I was wondering. So it was just a couple years ago when that happened and we last read about a significant shortage of ice breakers. Well, if I read the fine print correctly that cartoon was done between Christmas and New Years so no wonder the President missed it. :rolleyes:
 
I was fortunate to have a 3 yr tour on a Wind-Class Icebreaker(North and South Pole(Red/Blue nose). The Wind Class Breakers were 40 yrs old back them. The Navy had the Ice breaking responsibility and was later given to the CG. There were 2 Wind Class, 2 (New) Polar Class and the Glacier (the Mackinaw was Great Lakes bound) back 30 yrs ago. Some of the Wind Class Breakers were given to the Russians during WWII under lend-lease.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...MpknEVRRDpdKrUAxg&sig2=3uuXustxQEEOVawwTc5E-A

We would need a little more than a few Breakers. The statement for the CG to get more Breakers is laughable to counter Russia.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...OgmHXxJG9YnCVPXTg&sig2=Oe238FzMmfCG2xZRzqqORw

I'm very happy to see that the Chinese are also concerned about the melting ice and global warming.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...QqPKdPsUVfzBCZpcw&sig2=vyxKU_TtbxoFVrrDq10GjQ
 
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