Liberian National Coast Guard | |
---|---|
Founded | 1959 |
Country | Liberia |
Type | Coast guard |
Anniversaries | February 11 |
Engagements | First Liberian Civil War Second Liberian Civil War |
Commanders | |
Commander-in-Chief | President Joseph Boakai |
Minister of National Defense | Geraldine George |
Commander of the Coast Guard | Major Theophilus Momo Duo |
Insignia | |
Naval Jack | |
Ensign |
The Liberian National Coast Guard is the naval force of Liberia, part of the Armed Forces of Liberia. Its main duties are law enforcement along Liberia's coast and in its maritime area, and aiding those in distress. [1]
The Liberian National Coast Guard, was established in 1959. [2] Throughout the Tubman period the coastguard was little more than a few sometimes unserviceable patrol craft manned by ill-trained personnel, though its training improved in the 1980s to the point where it was considered the best trained of the armed services. [2]
In 1984 the Liberian National Coast Guard contained about 450 personnel. [3] Under Samuel Doe the Coast Guard was retitled the Liberian Navy in 1986 through the passage of The Liberian Navy Act of 1986. [4] However, as a result of the First and Second Liberian civil wars, the navy lost control of its bases and was reduced to an insignificant force. [3]
The Coast Guard was reactivated on the 53rd Armed Forces Day on February 11, 2010, with an initial strength of 40 personnel who had been trained in the United States. [5] A United States Coast Guard officer is now serving at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia supporting efforts to reestablish the Liberian Coast Guard. [6]
A detachment from SeaBee Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7, based at Naval Station Rota, Spain, constructed a United States Africa Command-funded boat ramp and concrete perimeter wall for the Coast Guard, which was handed over in December 2010. [7] In February 2011, the United States turned over two donated USCG Defender class boats to the Coast Guard. [8]
The fleet of the Liberian National Coast Guard currently consists of:
The ranks and insignia of the Liberian National Coast Guard are based on those of the United States Coast Guard, and are laid out in the Liberian Defense Act of 2008. [1]
Rank group | General/flag officers | Senior officers | Junior officers | Officer cadet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Liberian National Coast Guard [10] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Captain | Commander | Lieutenant commander | Lieutenant | Lieutenant (junior grade) | Ensign |
Rank group | Senior NCOs | Junior NCOs | Enlisted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Liberian National Coast Guard [10] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Master chief petty officer | Senior chief petty officer | Chief petty officer | Petty officer first class | Petty officer second class | Petty officer third class | Seaman | Seaman recruit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Tracing its origins to a militia that was formed by the first black colonists in what is now Liberia, it was founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, and retitled in 1956. For almost all of its history, the AFL has received considerable materiel and training assistance from the United States. For most of the 1941–89 period, training was largely provided by U.S. advisers, though this assistance has not prevented the same generally low levels of effectiveness common to most of the armed forces in the developing world.
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the United States military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its duties. It is the largest coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies.
The Posse Comitatus Act is a United States federal law signed on June 18, 1878, by President Rutherford B. Hayes which limits the powers of the federal government in the use of federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the United States. Congress passed the Act as an amendment to an army appropriation bill following the end of Reconstruction and updated it in 1956, 1981 and 2021.
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The United States Coast Guard is the coastal defense, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement branch of the United States Armed Forces and is one of the country's eight uniformed services. It carries out three basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The three roles are:
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