233 YEARS OF SERVICE: On Aug. 4, commissaries join nation in saluting Coast Guard on its anniversary
FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. – The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) is proud to observe the 233rd birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard on Aug. 4.
"We salute the Coast Guard's 233 years of service by delivering their commissary benefit," said Marine Sgt. Maj. Michael R. Saucedo, senior enlisted advisor to the DeCA director. "And we encourage Coast Guardsmen and their families to use their benefit to boost their financial and food security with at least 25 percent savings on their purchases."
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The Revenue Cutter Service was created on Aug. 4, 1790, when the first Congress authorized Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, to construct 10 vessels known as "revenue cutters" to enforce tariff laws for a post-Revolutionary War U.S. Treasury and to terminate well-established smuggling activities along the Atlantic Coast. Today, Hamilton is considered the father of the Coast Guard.
For each cutter, Congress authorized one master, not more than three mates, four mariners, and two boys. The masters received $30 a month, first mates received $20 a month, second mates received $16, third mates $14, mariners $8 and boys $4. They all received rations which included a half gill of rum, brandy, or whiskey; a quart of salt; two quarts of vinegar; two pounds of soap; and a pound of candles.
When the War of 1812 ended, the Revenue Cutter Service was ordered to sea to suppress pirate and slave ships.
In 1819, a battle ensued between the United States Revenue Cutter Service and the pirate captain, Jean Lafitte. On Aug. 31, 1819, Lafitte’s schooner, Bravo, came within firing range of the Louisiana and a brief battle occurred in which the first officer and three crew members of the Louisiana were wounded. The Americans boarded the Bravo and captured Jean Lafitte and his crew.
The U.S. steam cutter, Harriet Lane, part of a relief mission to assist the besieged Union troops in Fort Sumter, South Carolina, is credited with firing the first naval shot of the Civil War on April 11, 1861. On that day, the Harriet Lane fired a shot across the bow of a merchant ship entering Charleston Harbor that wasn’t showing its colors.
The U.S. Coast Guard was born on Jan. 28, 1915, with the merger of the Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Life-Saving Service. Nearly a quarter of a century later, the U.S. Lighthouse Service also merged into the Coast Guard, and in 1946 Congress transferred the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation into the Guard.
Beginning in 1967, the Coast Guard came under the direction of the Department of Transportation, and on March 1, 2003, it became part of the Department of Homeland Security.
During time of war, or when the president or Congress directs, the Coast Guard becomes part of the Department of Defense (DOD) and falls under the Department of the Navy. Because the Coast Guard is charged with enforcing a range of domestic laws as well as discharging a range of other military duties, it is exempt from the Posse Comitatus Act which bars other services from domestic law enforcement duties.
The Coast Guard has served in all of the United States’ major conflicts including Afghanistan and Iraq. In a typical year, the Coast Guard responds to around 20,000 search and rescue cases and saves more than 3,000 lives.
With its small force of around 41,000 active-duty personnel and over 8,000 reserve personnel, the Coast Guard has never operated a large number of commissaries; in fact, most of them have been located inside their base exchange stores. In the early 1980s, the Coast Guard operated 15 commissaries, 11 of which served Atlantic Coast personnel, two served Pacific personnel and the remaining two operated near the Great Lakes area.
In 1990, Congress and DOD decided to consolidate the individual service commissary systems into one agency, which became the Defense Commissary Agency on Oct. 1, 1991. This action brought all 411 service-connected stores under DOD control.
DeCA assumed control of the Coast Guard’s Governors Island Commissary, located south of Manhattan on the approach to New York Harbor, as well as the Kodiak, Alaska, store in the Aleutian Islands. Governors Island closed down as a result of the Base Alignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) in 1996, leaving Kodiak Island as the sole commissary serving a Coast Guard installation.
“Today Coast Guardsmen and their families can access their benefit at any commissary,” Saucedo said. “By using their benefit, they can save thousands of dollars annually on their purchases in comparison to similar products at commercial stores.”
-DeCA-
About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.