A Coast Guard City is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

designated as such by the

Commandant of the United States Coast Guard The commandant of the Coast Guard is the service chief and highest-ranking member of the United States Coast Guard. The commandant is an Admiral (United States), admiral, appointed for a four-year term by the president of the United States upon ...

on application of the local civilian government. It is an honorary designation intended to recognize communities of special importance to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Criteria

Designation as a Coast Guard City is made by the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard on advise of a review board and upon application by a municipal government. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, applications are expected to demonstrate an applicant jurisdiction's ability to meet a multi-part criteria that can include: erection of monuments and memorials to the Coast Guard, organization of civic celebrations on the anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Coast Guard, offer of special recognition and merchandise discounts to Coast Guard personnel by the local business community, providing support to local U.S. Coast Guard

Morale, Welfare and Recreation Morale, Welfare and Recreation, abbreviated MWR, is a network of support and leisure services designed for use by U.S. servicemembers (active, Reserve, and Guard), their families, military retirees, veterans with 100 percent service-connected disab ...

initiatives. Designation as a Coast Guard City is for a five-year period, but can be renewed indefinitely conditioned on the city continuing to meet the criteria.

History

Background

The Coast Guard City program was established by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

in 1998 to recognize cities where military assets 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 ...

are located and which demonstrate support to Coast Guard personnel stationed there. The first city so designated was

Grand Haven, Michigan Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Ha ...

. As of February 2017, 21 cities have been designated as "Coast Guard Cities."

Legislation

The authorizing legislation for the Coast Guard City program provides that:

The Commandant of the Coast Guard may recognize the community of Grand Haven, Michigan, as "Coast Guard City, USA". If the Commandant desires to recognize any other community in the same manner or any other community requests such recognition from the Coast Guard, the Commandant shall notify the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 90 days prior to approving such recognition.

List of Coast Guard Cities

References