Coast Guard Fellows

Commander Leah Cole, the U.S. Coast Guard’s 2024-2025 Harvard's Belfer Center Fellow, addresses maritime security and legal strategy in a time of escalating geopolitical competition. Her latest publication, "Lawfare, Not Warfare," examines how the United States can leverage international law to confront mounting maritime challenges from nations like China and Russia. She identifies the potential benefits of ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to strengthen United States national security, legal authority, and strategic positioning in contested waters. #CoastGuard #uscgfellows #Harvard #NationalSecurity #MaritimeSecurity

#Rewind and catch up on the "How I Got Here" series on MyCG! This edition features Captain Kate Higgins-Bloom, a trailblazing law enforcement officer and strategist with over 20 years of service in the Coast Guard. She has participated in several fellowships, each providing invaluable experiences that have shaped her career and emphasized the Coast Guard's impact on National Security. Her journey through programs like Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI, The Brookings Institution, the White House Fellowship Program, and the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) highlights the importance of leadership and risk-taking in shaping a meaningful career. ?? "Do what you want, but don't leave before you're gone. Don't avoid taking risks based on some hypothetical future that doesn't exist yet." #USCG #leadership #MITSeminarXXI

There has been a lot of talk about icebreakers, and a lot about the Antarctic lately, but not always in the context of one another. So, we thought this short explainer from CASP Fellow Lawson Brigham, discussing how the U.S. Coast Guard's Polar Icebreakers serve the U.S. national interest in the Southern Ocean would be of interest. We appreciate the Wilson Center | Polar Institute for posting this piece https://lnkd.in/eBAZTJjn

Congratulations to Captain Scott Austin, the Coast Guard's 2024-2025 Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University - in addition to advancing to the next round of the GoAERO competition, Captain Austin and the Tartan Air Rescue team also received a NASA University Innovation Award for their TRAAV-160 air rescue vehicle design.?Well done! U.S. Coast Guard Carnegie Mellon University NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

?? Unlock Your Potential with MIT's Seminar XXI! For Coast Guard officers and civilians, the MIT Seminar XXI Fellowship offers a transformative opportunity to broaden perspectives on national security and complex global challenges. Katie Burkhart, an alumna and now the Senior Advisor for Prevention Policy, reflects on how the program shaped her career and network, emphasizing its unmatched value for professional growth. Interested candidates must apply by March 13 to join an incredible network of leaders from across government and industry! #CoastGuard #Leadership #MIT #SeminarXXI #NationalSecurity #Fellowship https://lnkd.in/ezj9Vty8

?????????? ???????????????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????????! For 84 years, the Coast Guard Reserve has answered the call—shaped by history, driven by service, and always ready for the mission ahead. Built on a legacy of strength and resiliency, we continue to adapt, respond, and lead with unwavering commitment. From defense operations to emergency response and disaster recovery, Coast Guard reservists stand at the forefront of readiness. As the Coast Guard's contingency force, the Reserve remains Semper Paratus—Always Ready. Proud to stand the watch yesterday, today, and into the future! #USCGReserve #Birthday #Anniversary #MissionReady #SemperParatus #Reserve #Reservists #military #lawenforcement U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Department of Homeland Security

CASP has been honored to host its first tabletop exercise (TTX) in our new convening spaces onboard the US Coast Guard Academy this week. We were joined by about two dozen operators and SAR experts from the U.S. and other Arctic nations for the TTX "On Thin Ice -- Investigating Postures for Responding to Commercial Aircraft Emergencies in the Far North." The importance and reality of this event was soberly underscored just last week by the crash of a small commuter aircraft onto the Bering Sea's drift ice, so we started our TTX with an in-person debrief of these tragic events and the rescue and recovery effort from the Coast Guard 17th District's Search and Rescue (SAR) program manager, focusing everyone on this week's important analytical activities. This TTX was inspired by recent work in the Arctic Council's Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Working Group and research from the U.S. Coast Guard's Research and Development Center. Our Abbie Tingstad led the TTX design and facilitation, and we benefitted greatly from our partnership with CGA's Emergency Management and crisis leadership expert Erin Lambie, and the Coast Guard SAR program's Benjamin Strong. An initial analysis of outcomes may be presented at the Arctic Council’s EPPR Emergency Management Conference in Bodo, Norway, Mar. 18-20, 2025. Participants included representatives from: U.S. Coast Guard's Polar Coordination Office, Office of Search and Rescue and the 17th Coast Guard District, Alaska Air National Guard, New York Air National Guard, 109th Airlift Wing, NYANG, 106th Rescue Wing, Joint Rescue Coordination Center North-Norway, Forsvaret - Norwegian Armed Forces, Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies, Canadian Armed Forces | Forces armées canadiennes, INUPIAT COMMUNITY OF THE ARTIC SLOPE, International Civil Aviation Organization, the Kingdom of Denmark's EPPR Head of Delegation, RAND, ADAC-ARCTIC and others. Sincere thanks and appreciation for the time and contributions of our participants: Jereme Altendorf, CHMM, PMP, William Albright, MBA, Eric Chan, Sean Gavin, Jens Heine Grauen Larsen, Johannes K., Samuel Krakower, Shawn Lamoureux, Jonathan Nelles, Stephanie Nelson, NEMAA, John Welton, Jennifer Whitcomb, Benjamin Strong, Abbie Tingstad, Erin Lambie, Benjamin Trachik, Joseph Boudrow, Jonathan Roth, Wyman Briggs, Maureen Hammond, Emelia Campbell, William Spada, Elise B., and others.

On this day in 1976, the Coast Guard Academy became the first of the four largest federal service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard) to offer an appointment to a woman when they appointed three women to enter with the Class of 1980 (an eventual 38 women accepted and reported to CGA in June of that year). ??Photo credit: Brad Clift

A rare in depth look at the strategic importance of polar icebreaking operations shown from an individual level perspective of many of the crew and scientist of USCGC Healy. https://lnkd.in/eK2grJZB "This work is time consuming and difficult, but the importance of it becomes clear when you look at one of the many maps on the ship that show the world from a bird’s-eye view, looking down at the Arctic. Seeing the planet this way, you quickly sense how big Russia is, how geographically important Greenland could be in a warming world, and why America, as an Arctic nation, needs to better understand the vast terrain of a new and more geopolitically important world." Really proud of Michele Schallip and her crew and their service to our nation's security and prosperity. Great journalism by Rana Foroohar, thanks for taking the time to share this important and comprehensive perspective.

#Rewind: Catch up on the MyCG “How I Got Here” series, featuring three alumni of the Coast Guard Senior Education and Fellowships Programs. First in the queue: Rear Admiral Michael Platt, an alumnus of both the National Defense University's National War College and MIT Seminar XXI. “Leadership is one of those things that we know when we feel it. We can feel great leadership. But I would say that leadership can be an individual who through their actions inspires people to dream better, to learn better, and to want to become better at what they do.” #MITSeminarXXI #NationalWarCollege #USCG #leadership https://lnkd.in/gz-jJjrc