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Budget cuts
hamper Coast
Guard patrols

'We can't cut back in safety,'
but patrols on the high seas
will be reduced

---

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Coast Guard patrols to enforce fishery, environmental and other marine-related laws in the Pacific are being curtailed because of severe budget cuts.

Chief Petty Officer Gary Openshaw, assistant public affairs officer for the Hawaii-based 14th Coast Guard District, said 10 percent reductions have occurred across the entire service.

Cuts in some areas are as high as 30 percent, mostly in patrols and flight hours, he said. Search and rescue operations won't be affected. "We can't cut back in safety, and we can't cut back much in maintenance," Openshaw said.

The Coast Guard nationally is operating in the hole -- with about $91 million in debt, he said.

The 14th District budget has been hit with such emergencies as the USS Greeneville's sinking of a Japanese fishing vessel, costing more than $1 million.

In such cases, Openshaw said, "We go back to headquarters and say, 'We spent this much on emergency needs -- can we have more money?' We just haven't had our budget approved to the numbers that we need."

Compounding high fuel costs and other increased operating expenses were pay raises approved by Congress for all military personnel, without funding for the Coast Guard.

"We're a military service but we operate under the Department of Transportation," Openshaw pointed out. "The Department of Defense got the money, but they just didn't give the Department of Transportation money."

The Coast Guard had to dig into its own budget to cover the pay raises "because our people have to be paid fairly," he said.

The 14th District has 1,900 active-duty reserve and civilian employees. Two large cutters are stationed here, as well as four airplanes and four helicopters.

The major impact of the budget crisis will be in law enforcement patrols, Openshaw said, pointing out the Coast Guard in Hawaii is responsible for roughly 12 million square miles of the Pacific.

"I don't think Hawaii will notice much of a difference, but out there on the high seas, it's like instead of having a policeman on every street corner, we're just going to have to react to 911 calls."

In the aids to navigation program, involving maintenance of all buoys, he said, "We are just going to have to look for ways of being more efficient, and maybe letting them go a little bit longer between periodic maintenance."

Some scheduled patrols already have been canceled, he said.

"It's very hard for us," he added, "because we like what we do for a living and to not have the money to do it is frustrating. We do believe we provide a vital service to the country."