TRAVERSE CITY -- The Coast Guard is releasing the Great Lakes Maritime Strategy, a multi-year plan for Coast Guard activities in the region.

Rear Adm. Michael N. Parks, commander of the Ninth Coast Guard District, presented the strategy at the 2011 Traverse City Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner Friday in Traverse City.

The Great Lakes Maritime Strategy describes a five-year vision, the district commander’s guiding principles, the Ninth Coast Guard District’s strategic objectives, and a call to action that will guide the years ahead.

USCG Fact Sheet: Great Lakes Maritime Strategy – At a Glance

• Excel at mission execution;

• Inspire and serve our people;

• Enhance bi‐national cooperation and governance;

• Optimize force allocation and resources;

• Strengthen strategic partnerships; and

• Share our story.

Excel at mission execution

Our first and primary responsibility is safe and effective mission execution in the maritime domain. We must grow and sustain the best watchstanders, cuttermen, aircrews, boat crews, and marine inspectors in the entire service.

The nation expects and the Great Lakes region relies on our ability to accomplish our missions.

Inspire and serve our people

Mission execution depends on command and organizational climates that encourage excellence from every member of the Coast Guard family – active, reserve, auxiliary and civilian.

We must foster a mutual respect of our shipmates, champion diversity of background and thought, reward innovation and ensure transparent communications.

The Ninth District and subordinate command elements will strive to inspire and serve our people, and thereby achieve organizational and individual excellence.

Enhance bi‐national cooperation and governance

The Ninth Coast Guard District enjoys a unique view and responsibility within the Great Lakes system that has helped build and sustain a diverse set of relationships, formal and informal, with our Canadian peers. It is only through combined and interagency effort that daily and contingency mission requirements can be met.

Optimize force allocation and resources

Resources are scarce and finite and thus we must be diligent in ensuring resources are applied based on data‐driven mission requirements and not just historical legacy.

While we may not always be able to control our ability to relocate resources, we can assure the mission requirements we place at locations are appropriate and sustainable.

Strengthen strategic partnerships

We cannot meet every mission priority alone. The public expects and our missions demand that we seek out sustainable partnerships at every level of maritime interest.

The complexity and strategic importance of the Great Lakes region has spurred many longstanding regional partnerships that should be leveraged and strengthened to promote harmony among mutually reinforcing goals. With more than 40 federally recognized tribal nations in the Great Lakes region, specific effort on tribal partnerships merit increased attention.

Share our story

The Great Lakes maritime environment is complex and often misunderstood by those outside it, and in some cases even stakeholders within it underestimate the operational complexity and challenges.

Few organizations enjoy a broader vantage point of the Great Lakes maritime system than the Ninth Coast Guard District. It’s incumbent on us to proactively share our story, internally and externally.

We must orient ourselves to the issues that regional and national leadership care about and ensure they understand the tremendous relevance and value the Coast Guard brings to the effort.

The Coast Guard's Great Lakes Maritime Strategy can be viewed by clicking ON THIS LINK. 

You can also more see the U.S.C.G's main six objectives HERE.