The Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building is the current headquarters 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, mult ...

and is located in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

on the west campus of the historic St. Elizabeths Hospital. The building is named in honor of

Douglas Albert Munro Douglas Albert Munro (October 11, 1919 – September 27, 1942) was a United States Coast Guardsman who was posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for an act of "extraordinary heroism" during World War II. He is the only person to have r ...

and was completed in 2013.

History

Previous headquarters of the U.S. Coast Guard

At the time of its foundation in 1915, U.S. Coast Guard headquarters shared space with its parent agency, the

United States Department of 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 th ...

. In the same year, the U.S. Coast Guard moved to the

Munsey Trust Building The Munsey Trust Building was a historic high-rise office building located in Washington, D.C., United States, on E Street, N.W., between 13th and 14th Streets (adjacent to the National Theatre in the nation's capital city). History The building ...

, which was home up until 1919. In 1921 the

Bond Building The Bond Building is an historic office building located at 1400 New York Avenue, N.W., in downtown Washington, D.C. It was designed by architect George S. Cooper in 1901. The building was constructed by Charles Henry Bond, for an estimated $3 ...

became the new building for headquarters. By the 1930s, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters units were distributed among three venues – the Treasury Annex, the Wilkins Building and the Liberty Loan Building. In 1942, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters consolidated those offices into the Southern Railway Building. Between 1963 and 1971 U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters units occupied 800 Independence Avenue Southwest along with the

Federal Aviation Agency The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

. In the early 1960s and the early 1970s the agency also occupied 1300 E Street Northwest. In 1970 U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters moved into the

Nassif Building Constitution Center
Accessed 2011-04-20. (formerly known as the David Nassif Building) is an ...

along with the Coast Guard's new parent agency the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

. The next building to be headquarters was the Transpoint Building, leased by the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

in 1979 from Laszlo N. Tauber & Associates, which constructed the building in 1973 (the building also served as headquarters for

Naval Sea Systems Command The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is the largest of the United States Navy's five "systems commands," or materiel (not to be confused with "material") organizations. From a physical perspective, NAVSEA has four shipyards for shipbuilding, c ...

between 2013 and 2015). In the 1990s, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters units planned to relocate to 1200 New Jersey Avenue Southeast along with the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

, but as the U.S. Coast Guard was transferred to

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the I ...

, the plans were scrapped.

Construction and tenure

In 2004, the Coast Guard began exploring its need for a new headquarters facility. The

, the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security determined that it would be more cost-effective for the Coast Guard to move to a secure, federally owned site than to find a replacement lease for Transpoint Building. A new U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters Building on the campus of the historic St. Elizabeths Hospital was proposed in the 2006 federal budget. Construction of the building began in 2009 after receiving funding from the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...

. Budgeted at $646.2 million, it was the largest GSA project at the time. The building was officially opened on July 29, 2013. From August 2013 to November 2013, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters units relocated to the new building. Earlier in July 2013, An act to designate the Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building was introduced and passed in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, officially naming the building the Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building. In autumn 2015, the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Center, Personnel Service Center, Hearing Office, Legal Division, National Pollution Funds Center, Recruiting Command, and Base National Capital Region moved from various offices in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...

to the Headquarters Building.

References

{{Authority control Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C. Office buildings in Washington, D.C. United States Coast Guard