The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star breaks ice in McMurdo Sound near Antarctica on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. The crew of the Seattle-based Polar Star was on deployment to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2018, the U.S. military’s contribution to the National Science Foundation-managed U.S. Antarctic Program. (Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Nick Ameen)
By: FEDweek StaffThe Coast Guard’s first polar security cutter is still in the planning stage, but it now has a name: Polar Sentinel. Adm. Karl Schultz, the commandant, revealed the name in his annual State of the Coast Guard speech, which he delivered late last month.
Schultz also announced that the service has established a new enlisted and chief warrant officer rating – cyber mission specialist.
Once Polar Sentinel joins the fleet, it will be “a state-of-the-art ship [of] exact designs, complex steel work, and systems integration,” Schultz said.
The icebreaker initiative is one part of what Schultz called the Coast Guard’s “largest shipbuilding effort since the Second World War.” Construction of the Offshore Patrol and Waterways Commerce cutters is ongoing, he said.
Schultz also alluded to numerous endeavors aimed at improving infrastructure and bolstering family support systems.
The establishment of the cyber ratings would enable the Coast Guard to thwart the risks cyberattacks pose to maritime critical infrastructure and organizations, Schultz said.
The effort entails “prevention and response strategies; leveraging relationships with interagency partners; and building a robust workforce,” Schultz said.
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