From the COMDT - State of the Coast Guard Address

To the Men and Women of the U.S. Coast Guard,

On Friday, February 12th, I will deliver my final State of the Coast Guard address at the National Press Club in Washington, DC from 1300-1400. I will discuss the impacts of our Fiscal Year 2011 budget (http://www.uscg.mil/comdt/blog/2010/02/coast-guards-fiscal-year-2011-budget.asp#links), the need to recapitalize our aging fleet, and how our ongoing relief efforts in Haiti reflect the value we provide to the American public and the global maritime community.

I know most of you will not be able to attend but you can watch this event and the question and answer session at the National Press Club's website: www.press.org. ; At 1255, a blue box will appear in the middle of the main web page as the event is streamed live on their website. To conserve resources, I encourage commands to facilitate group viewing by showing the video in large common areas. The speech is also scheduled for live streaming on C-SPAN (http://www.c-span.org/) and it will be archived on their web site for future viewing. CSPAN may also broadcast my remarks on one of their television stations so I encourage you to check there first before watching it on your computer.

You have an opportunity to submit a question in advance or after the event. To submit a question beforehand, put ALLEN in the subject line and email president@press.org before 1100 on February 12th. The National Press Club coordinates these questions and we cannot guarantee they will be asked at the event.

Afterwards, I will post the entire speech on my website (http://www.uscg.mil/comdt/) and on my blog (http://www.uscg.mil/comdt/blog/) where you can provide comments or questions.

I appreciate all that you do for our Coast Guard and I hope you will be able to watch my remarks at some point over the weekend. Thank you and Semper Paratus.

Admiral Thad W. Allen Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard