I am proud to deliver the Coast Guard Strategic Plan 2018-2022, which represents our Senior Leaders’ shared vision to advance the Service over the next four years. This Strategic Plan supports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Security Strategy (NSS) to ensure a safe, secure, and prosperous homeland. The lines of effort in this plan emphasize our need to invest in Service readiness while fine-tuning mission execution and operational support to meet the needs of the Nation.

Maximizing Readiness Today and Tomorrow is my top priority. Service readiness begins with our people — our greatest strength — including our dedication to maintaining an inclusive workplace and striving to mirror the great diversity of the American public we serve. Supporting our mission-ready total workforce requires capable assets, modern systems, resilient infrastructure, and sufficient Operations and Support (O&S) appropriations to operate and sustain them.

Our unique position within DHS and our enduring role with the Department of Defense (DOD) allows our Service to effectively Address the Nation’s Complex Maritime Challenges. We will employ our leadership within the maritime domain to foster domestic and international cooperation, build stakeholder capacity, and exert influence at home and abroad. As Commandant, I intend to leverage the Coast Guard’s broad authorities, capabilities, and partnerships to safeguard the American people, promote economic prosperity, and advance national interests.

Upholding our legacy of on-scene initiative across our broad missions, we will Deliver Mission Excellence Anytime, Anywhere. This begins with orienting all of our Service’s initiatives to promote organizational efficiency, agility, and effectiveness and extends to the daily work of Coast Guard women and men during steady state or in times of crisis.

While it is impossible to predict what the next four years will bring, I can assure you we will face complex challenges around the world that will require our very best – the best people, best tools, and our best performance. Collectively, we will ensure that the Coast Guard remains Always Ready to meet the needs of our great Nation.

Admiral Karl L. Schultz
Commandant

It is my distinct privilege to serve you and the American public as the 26th Commandant of the Coast Guard. My guiding principles below will ensure our Service remains best positioned to “Stand the Watch” and serve a Nation whose economic prosperity, national security, and global influence are inextricably linked to the maritime domain. Our service is strong, the total workforce highly capable, and the demand for Coast Guard services never greater. As I assume the watch, our heading will remain steady but we will look to pick up speed building on Service to Nation, Commitment to Excellence, and Duty to People. Our approach to Duty to People will be reframed through the lens of building and optimizing a “mission ready total workforce,” more closely tying the development and support of our people, and their families, to service readiness.

These guiding principles frame my direction and will support the Department of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Defense and Combatant Commanders, and other national and global maritime interests.

READY
We will be prepared to serve and protect the American people and our national interests.

RELEVANT
We will be a professional and agile armed force, law enforcer, regulator, and maritime first responder on which our partners confidently rely to address the Nation’s increasingly complex maritime challenges.

RESPONSIVE
We will employ our bias for action to excel in mission execution as we protect and defend the homeland.

Our Coast Guard is strong, and that is a testament to you. Thank you for the dedication, hard work, and sacrifice you and your families make daily to successfully accomplish all of our missions. I am incredibly proud of this great organization and humbly honored to serve alongside you as we build on past success and lead our Coast Guard into the future.

Admiral Karl L. Schultz
Commandant