In 2024, crews assigned to Coast Guard Sector Virginia conducted over 250 maritime security and response operations consisting of patrols, fixed security zone enforcements, security boardings, security facility operations, and vessel escorts.
Here and across the country, the Coast Guard’s mission of Ports, Waterways and Coastal Security (PWCS) is vital for maintaining the safety and security of the nation’s waterways.
“The most important thing for the public to understand about PWCS is that the men and women of the Coast Guard are working tirelessly and proactively to protect, deter, and respond to threats across the U.S. Maritime Domain,” said Lt. Zoe Robiskie, an enforcement management officer with Sector Virginia. “We’re constantly working to ensure the safety and security of Virginia waterways - while you may not see it every day, Coast Guard assets are always active, safeguarding the ports, waterways, and coastal zones from disruptions.”
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 split the Coast Guard's eleven operational missions into homeland security and non-homeland security operations. Along with Search and Rescue, the PWCS mission became a top homeland security mission, emphasizing the protection of the U.S. Maritime Domain and the U.S. Marine Transportation System by preventing, disrupting and responding to terrorist attacks, sabotage, espionage, and other malicious activities. This mission incorporates Maritime Security Response Operations, which includes security patrols, security boardings, escorts of high-value units and high-capacity passenger vessels, and protecting military outload operations.
“PWCS is a critical mission that Sector Virginia supports,” said Robiskie. “The Port of Virginia is the second-busiest commercial port on the east coast and is home to the world’s largest Navy base; PWCS is extremely important for public safety and security and is critical to our maritime infrastructure.”
The Coast Guard's approach to PWCS is structured around three main components: Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), maritime security regimes, and security and response operations. MDA is the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data, including intelligence from various sources to understand and address maritime security threats. Maritime security regimes include domestic and international protocols to establish security standards and foster cooperation. Domestically, this is carried out through Area Maritime Security Committees, and internationally through partnerships and the International Maritime Organization. Security and response operations consist of counterterrorism (offensive actions, like those by the Maritime Security Response Team) and antiterrorism (defensive actions, such as vessel boardings and the protection of maritime critical infrastructure).
“Intel has been a crucial asset to our operations,” said Robiskie. At Sector Virginia, she said that they rely heavily on intelligence to guide their actions, especially when conducting boardings, because reliable intel makes operations more effective and efficient.
The Coast Guard's integrated intel approach combines awareness, security frameworks, and operational capabilities to create multiple layers of security, making it more difficult for terrorists to exploit vulnerabilities in the U.S. Maritime Domain. This strategy involves close collaboration across various federal, state and local government agencies to conduct operations and make the overall maritime security system, across the country and here locally, more robust and effective.
The Coast Guard's continuous commitment to safeguarding the country's waterways is demonstrated by Sector Virginia's notable operations in 2024. As 2025 dawns, the PWCS mission here and across the nation assures that the maritime domain continues to be safe for commerce, transit, and national security.
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