In the early 20th century, Coast Guard Mobilization Plan 1 and Coast Guard Mobilization Plan 2 were contingency plans of the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

for the operational transfer of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

to the

United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary ...

in the event of a major crisis. Plan 1 was designed for activation in the event of a war, while Plan 2 was designed for activation in the event of a peacetime exigency. The groundwork for Plan 1 and Plan 2 was jointly formulated by the Navy and the Coast Guard beginning in 1915, following the merger of the

Revenue Cutter Service ) , colors= , colors_label= , march= , mascot= , equipment= , equipment_label= , battles= , anniversaries=4 August , decorations= , battle_honours= , battle_honours_label= , disbanded=28 January 1915 , flying_hours= , website= , commander1= , co ...

with the

United States Life-Saving Service The United States Life-Saving ServiceDespite the lack of hyphen in its insignia, the agency itself is hyphenated in government documents including: and was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian effort ...

. These preparations were formalized with the classified document ''Mobilization of the Coast Guard when Required to Operate as a Part of the Navy'', containing the procedures by which the combining of the two maritime services into a unified naval force would be accomplished. The plan was finalized in March 1917. While the mobilization plans generally envisaged the transfer of the whole of the Coast Guard to the Navy, some exceptions were prescribed. The

United States Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is a service academy of the United States Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1876, it is the smallest of the five U.S. service academies and provides education to future Coast G ...

, for instance, would not be transferred to Navy control, nor would Coast Guard stations 276 and 305 (lifesaving stations located in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

and

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

, respectively). Mobilization Plan 1 was activated on April 6, 1917 – following the United States declaration of war against Germany – when the United States Navy communications center in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county i ...

transmitted the activation phrase ''"Plan One, Acknowledge"'' to Coast Guard headquarters. It, in turn, relayed it to Coast Guard forces via encrypted radiogram. Over the next several hours, 330 Coast Guard cutters and shore facilities placed themselves under the command of their local naval districts.

References

{{reflist, 2 Military plans United States Coast Guard