Date: September 22, 2006

Contact: Ninth Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office
(216) 902-6020

PROPOSED SAFETY ZONES & WEAPONS TRAINING EXERCISES 

Historically, U.S. Coast Guard vessels on the Great Lakes have not been armed due to the1817 Rush-Bagot agreement.  In 2004, given homeland security and law enforcement concerns, Canada agreed that U.S. Coast Guard vessels could be armed with machine guns to conduct national security and law enforcement activities, and reserved the right to arm its own vessels.

To better protect the public and waterfront facilities and to standardize training protocols, the Ninth District began outfitting its cutters and small boats in 2004 with deck-mounted automatic weapons, the M240-B.  Weapons training exercises did not begin until January 2006 due to the length of time it took the district to acquire and mount automatic weapons on board vessels as well as to ensure compliance with all international and domestic laws.

Coast Guard small boats and cutters, on the U.S. Great Lakes, have been conducting weapons training exercises in temporary safety zones since January 2006.  Administrative procedures and safety measures were employed to ensure that the public and natural resources on the Great Lakes were not jeopardized.

The Ninth Coast Guard District has implemented temporary safety zone twenty-four (24) times since January 2006, without incident.

On August 1, 2006, the Ninth Coast Guard District proposed the establishment of 34 permanent safety zones to support 57 Coast Guard units and cutters across the Great Lakes.  The safety zones are established so Coast Guard men and women can conduct essential training in order to be operationally ready to conduct maritime law enforcement, national defense and maritime homeland security missions.

The location of the 34 proposed permanent safety zones has been selected to maximize public safety and minimize the impact on commerce, commercial and recreational mariners.  The Coast Guard commitment to public safety is paramount.  We must equally assure the public our Coast Guard members are staffed, trained and equipped to take whatever measures may be necessary to prevent and respond to illegal maritime activity and terrorism.