(Adm) Papp: Oil spill affects (CG) missions, work-force

[unhappycamper]

Coast Guard commandant Adm. Robert Papp, center, talks with Coast Guard and local officials about the oil spill in Grand Isle, La. Papp said the Coast Guard has had to cut back on other missions and halt some personnel cuts to handle the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.


Papp: Oil spill affects missions, work-force
By Susan Schept - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jul 10, 2010 9:54:33 EDT

Efforts to pare active-duty Coast Guard members have been halted temporarily and some missions have been cut back as the service reassesses how to handle the fallout of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp.

The service has 3,000 people — mostly reservists — stationed in the Gulf, as well as 19 cutters and two dozen aircraft.

The Coast Guard already has gone through its first wave of 2,000 reservists — 25 percent of its total — and has just called for 1,000 more. Reservists can serve only two 60-day intervals and then cannot be recalled for two years.

The active-duty force is being stretched, too. Four flag officers are deployed to the Gulf along with senior leaders and mid-range officers. A servicewide message sent June 22 requested members of the Coast Guard auxiliary to volunteer for at least 30 days. Another message sent eight days later asked for civilian employees who are willing to go to the Gulf for a month of 12-hour days. Volunteers could be sent any time within the next six months, according to the message.

“The Coast Guard does not have people to deploy in cases like this,” Papp said. “We have to take them from commands. … It’s hitting us hard personnel-wise.”