Coast Guard to launch Special Missions Command in October

The U.S. Coast Guard plans to launch a unit that will oversee its deployable specialized forces and enhance the operational effectiveness when responding to national emergencies and events.

Special Missions Command will be commissioned on or around Oct. 1 and will be based at the existing Coast Guard C5I Service Center facility in Kearneysville, W.Va. It will be fully integrated into the Deployable Special Forces under a single operational commander and will be tasked with oversight and advocacy, improving readiness, mission effectiveness, and interoperability. Administrative and operational control will be shared by the Coast Guard’s two area commanders.

“The creation of the Special Missions Command is a vital evolution for our service,” Adm. Kevin Lunday, Coast Guard Commandant, said. “We are forging our most elite operators into a single, razor-sharp instrument of national power. The Special Missions Command is not an administrative change; it is an investment ensuring these elite teams are the best trained, equipped, and organized force possible, ready to protect the homeland and support the joint force.”

Special Missions will include maritime security response teams to serve as first responders, regional dive lockers to provide undersea capabilities, tactical law enforcement teams, maritime safety and security teams, and port security units. Additional units, capabilities and functions may be incorporated in the future