To improve the way its operational components plan and coordinate joint operations in the maritime domain, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently said it has created a Maritime Operations Coordination (MOC) plan signed by the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to boost cooperation at the regional level.
The plan, which isn’t being publicly released by DHS, requires a layered approach to maritime security and emphasizes information sharing within DHS and among its various partners at the federal, state, local, tribal, territorial and international levels.
In its blog, DHS says that the plan focuses on improved collaboration among the agencies in five sectors: coordination; planning; information sharing; intelligence integration; and response activities.
“With the signing of the MOC plan, we will be able to better coordinate and collaborate with federal agencies in order to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations who wish to do us harm,” John Morton, director of ICE, said in a statement. “ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) unique law enforcement authorities will assist DHS components in countering maritime threats effectively and efficiently.”
The HSI is the largest investigative agency within DHS and is responsible for investigating a range of domestic and international activities related to the illegal movement of people and goods into, within, and out of United States ports.
The Coast Guard and CBP both operate in the maritime domain with various aircraft and vessels. Both agencies operate medium and long-range patrol aircraft while the Coast Guard has a fleet of high-endurance, medium-endurance, short-range and harbor-patrol vessels. CBP operates over 200 small patrol boats for both drug and migrant interdiction.
Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp said that the new “plan will combine resources from across DHS to strengthen our ability to protect our nation’s global trade and our citizens.”
CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin said the plan will help eliminate duplication of effort among components.
The Coast Guard in 2009 began work to establish Interagency Operations Centers to bring together its various partners, including CBP and ICE, that can serve as a framework moving forward for aligning operations with additional partners and port stakeholders, DHS said. These IOCs also offer a secure environment for enhancing information sharing, it said.
DHS said that the plan will be implemented by field-level supervisors within the Coast Guard, CBP and ICE. Responsibilities of the regional supervisors include coordinating department-wide activities to avoid duplicative operations and provide a layered and scalable security presence, planning of joint exercises to improve coordination, and apply a risk analysis methodology to the planning effort.