To win hearts and minds, give Coast Guard new hospital ships.

• Author: Hooper, Craig
• Position: COMMENTARY

* Long before it became fashionable to "win hearts and minds," the U.S. Coast Guard was rescuing people regardless of nationality.

Humanitarian missions are a perfect match for the Coast Guard's lifesaving ethos. That is why the Coast Guard needs to acquire both large and small hospital ships.

Hospital ships would be a welcome addition to the Coast Guard's fleet of cutters. Recent Navy deployments of the USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort have demonstrated their ability to project a caring image of the United States around the globe.

The Coast Guard operates in a diplomatic space that the Navy is unable to replicate, and offers the United States another avenue to engage in politically sensitive disaster response and medical outreach projects.

Hospital ships are, by design, multi-use vehicles that are capable of serving in command and control, educational outreach, or as virtual sea bases.

The Coast Guard's modernization plans--under the Deepwater program--already are under stress and budgets are strained. So new hospital ships would be best drawn from tested hulls found in the inventories of both the U.S. and allied navies as well as the private sector. No need to reinvent the wheel.

A future hospital ship should be tied into some sort of modularized container system that may mirror the modules used by the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship. A ship that might be charged with high-tempo combat trauma care will need a flat deck that is able to withstand the heat and weight of large helicopters. A well deck also would be recommended, although it could be passed over if the ship is able to dock or maintains an organic docking system.

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Under a two-tier system, smaller, cheaper ambulance-like platforms could work in tandem with a larger, more expensive command-and-control "trauma" platform or aid ship tenders where the crew of a smaller, low-endurance craft can take a breather or swap out crews.

For guidance on doctrine, Coast Guard planners can look to World War II, when small ambulance ships often worked as primary receiving platforms.

A floating trauma center requires a large platform that is capable of supporting a hospital and of providing sufficient electrical, water, crew-surge space and stability, as well as comprehensive organic decontamination facilities and the ability to receive contaminated or infectious casualties and aid workers either from the flight deck or well deck. A natural solution would be the LPD-17 class of...