SHAKO: Happy Birthday U.S. Coast Guard

231 Years Young.

U.S. Coast Guard imagery

In case you missed it, today (August 4) is the official birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard.

The history of the Coast Guard goes back to the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, which was founded on Aug. 4, 1790, as part of the Department of the Treasury, under Alexander Hamilton. The Revenue Cutter Service and the Life-Saving Service were merged to form the Coast Guard on Jan. 28, 1915. In 1939 the Lighthouse Service was merged into the Coast Guard.

Since then, the Coast Guard has been handed many assignments: From intercepting intruder aircraft over the National Capital Region, preserving marine wildlife, maritime search and rescue, enforcing maritime law in U.S. waters and intercepting smugglers of drugs and people.

In all the Coast Guard has eleven separate missions.

Praise came from in from points as diverse as President Joe Biden to defense and homeland security contractors to the U.S. Marine Corps.

Your 4GWAR editor was at National Harbor, Maryland, this week covering the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo, where they celebrated the Coast Guard birthday with some pomp.

At least one exhibitor at Sea-Air-Space, Peraton, took matters into to their own hands –shovels, actually with a huge indoor sand sculpture.

Sand sculpture honoring U.S. Coast Guard’s 231st birthday at Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space expo Aug. 2-4 at National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo copyright by John M. Doyle)

*** *** ***

SHAKO is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military history, traditions and culture. For the uninitiated, a shako is the tall, billed headgear worn by many armies from the Napoleonic era to about the time of the American Civil War. It remains a part of the dress, or parade, uniform of several military organizations like the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York in the photo at left.