Coast Guard commandant girds service for possible budget cuts.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Robert J. Papp Jr.

* Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr., commandant of the Coast Guard, is determined not to repeat the pitfalls of the past.

The service has already lived through an era of declining budgets. In the 1990s, the Coast Guard lost some 6,000 personnel as its top line funding took hits year after year

"I understand fully what it is like to be in a declining budget situation," he told National Defense. "I know everyone in the government has to tighten their belts. The president has asked us to do that. What I would like to do is hold on to what we have."

The mistake made during the 1990s was the decision to sacrifice support personnel in order to keep the Coast Guard on the frontline carrying out its plethora of duties such as drug interdiction, security, search and rescue, and environmental and fishery enforcement.

"If there is any lesson to be derived from that as we go forward, it's that I'm not going to hollow out our force," he said.

The last 10 years have been a mixed bag for the Coast Guard. It benefited from the post-9/11 federal budgets, which saw increases for agencies involved in homeland security. It regained most of those 6,000 lost personnel. But its major ship and aircraft acquisition program, the Integrated Deepwater System, suffered cost overruns and delays.

The root of those problems came in the 1990s, when many acquisition personnel were let go.

"If you're going to sustain operations, continue to rescue people, do drug interdiction and everything else. What do you cut? Generally you cut support," Papp said.

By the time the money to purchase new boats, aircraft and the electronic backbone of sensors and communications gear that go with them started flowing after 9/11, the service did not have an adequate work force to oversee the complex, multi-billion dollar project.

"If we face reductions in the future, it's going to have to come across the board in terms of cutting back on frontline operations in addition to those support activities as well. I'm hopeful that won't happen," he said.

To make up for the lack of contracting and management experts, the Coast Guard hired a Lockheed Martin-Northrop Grumman joint venture called Integrated Coast Guard Systems to run the project. After the cost overruns began to mount, the service fired the company, and took the reins of the program. By that time, it was becoming increasingly hard to find experienced acquisition experts, especially those who specialized in shipbuilding.

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The Coast Guard has worked hard to hire and train these kinds of contract specialists, and Papp said he is "delighted" with the progress the acquisition cadre has made.

"I'm willing to stack up...