Search And Rescue Still Runs On Empty Wallets (... a quick chat with Rear Admiral John Mauger, USCG (Ret.) to help make sense of it)

The Coast Guard is still standing the watch, launching rescues, protecting ports, and keeping maritime commerce moving, but the pay story behind the uniform is far messier than most people realize. When a partial government shutdown hits the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard gets pulled into a funding gap that creates real stress for families and real risk for operational readiness. I wanted more than surface-level commentary, so I picked up the phone and called someone I trust to get the facts straight.

Retired Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger joins me to walk through what is actually happening with DHS appropriations, delayed pay, and the difference between uniformed Coast Guard members and the civilian workforce that supports critical missions. We talk about what counts as “essential,” what work slows down, and why “back pay later” does not solve the immediate problem of bills due today. He also explains the fast-moving situation on Capitol Hill, including carve-outs and funding proposals that may protect some DHS components while leaving the Coast Guard stuck in the “rest of DHS” bucket.

We also zoom out to the bigger maritime picture: shipbuilding hearings, the maritime industrial base, workforce retention, long-range planning, and why maritime security is national security. If we want resilience in the maritime transportation system and a stronger U.S. maritime supply chain, funding stability cannot be an afterthought.

If this breakdown helps, subscribe and share the episode with someone who cares about maritime policy, national security, or ocean shipping, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.

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Transcript

Why This Funding Crisis Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Ready to go. You're listening to By Land and By Sea, powered by the Maritime Professor. Last week we covered this topic, the Coast Guard is still out there doing the work. They're still standing the watch, they're still supporting maritime safety and security, and they're still serving this country. And yet, during this partial government shutdown, the U.S. Coast Guard has been caught in the middle of a funding mess that never should have happened, right? Last week, when I was working through the issue for the podcast, writing my script and writing my thoughts down, I kept running into the same problem. I wanted to make sure that I was getting it right. And not just mostly right, not just close enough, but right. Because this isn't a casual topic. We are talking about real missions, real families, real consequences, and real problems. The service just simply doesn't stop because Washington can't get his act together. So I did what I do when I need help pressure testing what I'm seeing. I ended up picking up the phone and called someone I trust. And so that's what today's episode is. It's a little glimpse into a little glimpse into my Rolodex, I guess. Who I have when I have questions, particularly on Coast Guard, who I call when I want to make sure that I'm not missing something, that I'm not really getting it wrong. And in this case, who I called because the Coast Guard funding crisis deserves more than just surface level commentary. It deserves accuracy. Hi, welcome back to My Land Invice C, an attorney breaking down the week in supply chain, presented by the Maritime Professor. Me, I'm Lauren Beegan, founder of the Maritime Professor, former FMC International Affairs Attorney, and founder of 12 Strategies. My land and by C is your go-to resource for navigating the regulatory side of global ocean shipping. And me? I'm your favorite maritime attorney, aren't I? As always, this podcast for educational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. There is no attorney-client privilege created by this video or this podcast. You need an attorney, contact an attorney. So let's get into it because as you know, ocean shipping moves the world. All right. Now, today's conversation is a little different, and honestly, I think it's a good thing. It's a quick conversation. Last week, when I was speaking about the tragedy of the Coast Guard not being funded during this partial government shutdown, and the reminder that Coast Guard is part of Department of Homeland Security, I was having trouble sourcing information that felt current solid enough for me to be comfortable with kind of every single part of the way that I wanted to talk about it. And I wanted to get it right because I wanted to actually find out who was getting paid, who wasn't getting paid, who kind of got paid, and then now isn't getting paid. This is one of those things that I really wanted to make sure that I got right. And it's not just about the budget fight, it's about the people still doing the work. Right? The uncertainty is hanging over their pay, over their families, over their decisions, their operations, and the basic support systems around them. So, as I said in the hook, I do what I did. I did what I do when I need help getting something right. I called someone I trust, and that person for me was retired Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger. And I thought instead of keeping that conversation behind the scenes, why not bring it directly to all of you listening to my land and my feet? I had the conversation while I was driving my daughter to swim. But what I wanted to do, and what you'll hear just shortly, is have that almost the same conversation of, well, what the heck is happening? What is going on? Who has gotten paid? Who isn't hasn't gotten paid? Civilian versus officer and enlisted. What are all of the things that are happening? Because I wanted the credibility, the context, the perspective, the accuracy, right? This is serious. The Coast Guard is being forced to continue its mission while funding remains mostly in limbo for what's going to happen next. Rear Admiral John Mauger, U.S. Coast Guard retired, brings more than 30 years of leadership experience across national security, intermodal supply chains, and cybersecurity. He served as the commander of the first Coast Guard district, where he led 12,000 personnel and oversaw critical port operations for Maine to New Jersey. He also served in senior flag roles tied to U.S. maritime safety, security, and environmental regulatory programs. And earlier in his career, he scaled as a shipboard engineer and worked on domestic and international shipping regulatory issues. In other words, he's exactly the kind of person I wanted to call when I wanted to pressure test and just accuracy check what I was seeing.

Shipbuilding Hearing And The System

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Also, I want to zoom out for a minute here because this conversation is happening at the same time that this week Congress is actually having a much bigger conversation about revitalizing shipbuilding in the maritime industrial base. This week, you might have caught it, there was a joint hearing between the armed services and transportation and infrastructure subcommittees. One of the themes that came through over and over was that none of this works without a system, right? Not just one ship here, one yard there, one workforce initiative over there. It's a system. It has to be a system. And that includes cargo, fleet, shipbuilding, workforce, demand signals, long-term planning. Those were the ideas that were running through that hearing. I encourage you to go take a listen. Even though it says it's over three hours, there are some breaks when they had to go for vote. So it's not actually three hours that you have to dedicate to listening to it. Probably more like an hour, hour and a half. I think you should go listen to it. It was really interesting. But look, what I wanted to cover again today was the Coast Guard funding issue. It's not happening in a vacuum, right? It fits inside this broader maritime moment where lawmakers are trying to rebuild American shipbuilding, strengthen the industrial base, and figure out how to support the overall maritime workforce for the long haul. The hearing also underscores some of the tensions in that effort. Everyone wants to read, but the witnesses kept coming back to the same point that design maturity, stable demand, workforce retention, coordinated long-term investment all matter if you actually want to get the ships delivered on time and on budget and for the long term. Coach Guard was also pressed during that hearing about planning documents. Which I can appreciate the question, right? Planning and future planning is part of all of this. That is what we are doing with these large ideas that we are tackling. And these planning reports have been late. And maybe, and well, it it's true, they've been later than just this partial shutdown. But look, it also felt like maybe it was ill-time. Because where funding itself is still uncertain. For the Coast Guard specifically, it's not exactly surprising. The long-range planning document may not be sitting at the top of what gets treated as essential work. However, I want to be fair, those some of those long-range planning documents were beyond just this small partial shutdown. And I say small in time, not insignificant. The hearing reflected both sides of that tension. Congress wants overdue reporting and clear planning, at least in this one little questioning segment. Well, the Coast Guard is operating in a moment where the immediate mission and immediate uncertainty are understandably taking up the action. They are mission essential. There was some funding, and we'll talk about this when I talk to Rear Admiral Lauger in a minute, uh, that you'll be listening to. But while today's conversation is specifically about the Coast Guard and the funding instability here, it also fits into this much larger conversation happening right now in the Hill about American maritime capacity, what readiness actually requires, and what happens when we underinvest for too long and then try to sprint our way out of it.

Corrections And Why Accuracy Matters

SPEAKER_00 7:17

And one quick housekeeping note before I drop it, before I drop in the interview here, in the recorded conversation that you're about to hear, it happened yesterday, Thursday, April 23rd, we pre-recorded it. I accidentally said that the Shift for America Act was reintroduced this week on Wednesday. That was actually incorrect. The bill was reintroduced on April 30th, 2025, the last year. What happened this week was a renewed push on the hill. I thought that maybe they reintroduced it with the new year. Uh looked like, and and still kind of determining, but it looked like it was a renewed push on the hill to move it forward. A coalition of labor and industry groups publicly urging Congress to pass it. You know, sometimes I bring in conversations that may not entirely be fully polished. Maritime Action Plan, instant reaction, I think, is a perfect example of that. But I actually think that that natural conversational discussion is part of what gives these episodes hopefully authenticity. So while last week I may have miscategorized a few things, if you listen back to it and said, you know, she said that they're not doing NMC National Maritime Center application processing, I've since learned that actually did restart, I think, last Wednesday or last Thursday, but on Friday when I did the recording, it it I said that it hadn't. So little things like that. Look, I was just even with it being not entirely polished or perhaps not even fully developed, even in my mind yet, I had to bring the conversation to you. I had to bring attention to it. I wanted to make sure that everybody was on the same page here, that we are still in a partial government shutdown for the Coast Guard. Because look, the topic itself, no matter how imperfectly or perfectly I'm able to present it in the moment, I still think the things that I bring you are worthy of conversation and attention. Obviously, that's why I'm bringing them to you. But also some of my questions, or maybe even the things that I'm getting wrong, because I stay pretty closely connected. I'm watching a lot of what's going on, whether it's the actual hearing, the the trade press coverage of it, whatever it is, I'm staying very close to it. So what I kind of approach it with is if I'm missing it, then then you know, certainly I'm not the only one watching this, but maybe there's room for accuracy. And so that's what I wanted to do this week, like I said, get more information, get more accuracy, refine some of the fumbles that I had and how I categorized or talked about some of these things in real time because the funding situation itself has been fluid. This issue is too important for me to just sit on and and fiddle over precision. Look, everything wasn't entirely buttoned up, it still isn't entirely buttoned up. But look, I wanted to bring you the conversation with retired Rear Admiral John Mauger, so please please enjoy.

Rear Admiral Mauger Joins

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Well, thank you, Admiral Mauger, for joining me today. This is so wonderful to have you joining us on By Land and By Sea. Thank you for taking some time out of. I understand you're in Nashville, which is an incredible.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Music City. I I hope uh your listeners can't hear the music going on in the background. But wow, it's a really nice city. I've enjoyed my time down here. It's sunny and it's warm. I look forward to getting back to New England, but uh for right now I'm enjoying the time that we have.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

Well, bring that sunny weather back with you. You know, before we kick off, though, I'd love for you to introduce yourself to my listeners so they know a little bit about who you are.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Sure, Lauren. Hey, thanks so much for having me on. I'm a longtime fan and big listener, but first-time caller in uh in this particular podcast. So uh thanks so much for the opportunity. So I'm rear Apple Job Auger. I had a 37-year career in the Coast Guard, spanning a whole bunch of uh interesting and wonderful things. Your Coast Guard does so many things for the nation. We have uh brave men and women who jump out of helicopters and put their lives at risk to save folks uh in the water. We have uh law enforcement officers that jump on board uh drug clubs transiting in the Pacific uh region uh that uh you know are keeping uh people safe and stabilized here in the U.S. through interdiction of illegal narcotics. I did none of that. I was a uh federal maritime regulator, the lead federal maritime regulator that ensured the safety, security, and uh the sustainability of uh shipping in the U.S. I retired in 24 uh after spending uh 37 years with the service and uh opened a consulting company to help uh folks within the industry and within government understand and manage kind of all the different changes that are coming out coming at them. As you know so many times in your podcast, there's a lot of changes that are continuously happening in the maritime industry, a lot of recalculation that needs to get done. And so I'm working to help make that a little bit simpler for folks where I can.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Well, and I appreciate what you do. You you helped me translate quite a few of the very scientific, database type things through the years. So I I really appreciate your friendship and your partnership and your help with all of those questions. And I I I want to be fair, you you minimized your your experience of the postcard. You were incredible and one of the lead uh lead people for for the Titan Submersible. So certainly if uh if anybody's watching this on video, you may recognize Edmund Lager from his easy appearances when Titan Submersible unfortunately happened.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Yeah, that that was unfortunate. I hope folks will remember just the amazing work that the crews and uh the partners are all involved in that uh Keith did. It was not the outcome that we had all uh hoped for or worked so hard for. Um, but it was just monumental to sit back and reflect on how uh that came about and how many people responded, how quickly they responded, how selflessly they gave, and hopefully we get another chance at some point, Laura, to get back and share some of the stories with your listeners because uh while it's not at the heart of supply chain, it is at the heart of uh you know a lot of maritime issues. And so would love to tell that story at some point.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

I would love that. Actually, I I was just thinking as as it came up, I had you speak in front of one of my classes at Mass Maritime that I teach in the grad program, and the stories that you have are incredible. But to the point, what we're talking about today and why you are a fantastic person to talk about it is last week I kind of got on a little bit of a soapbox, but I think appropriately so, talking about federal funding, right? There's some parts of the federal government that people notice immediately when funding runs into trouble, and there's other parts that people don't know until real consequences start happening. And unfortunately, we're in kind of this strange dysfunctional phase of time where Postgre is still not funded and nobody is really talking about it. So I wanted to talk to you about it on the show. Sure. What is going on? You know, things are moving very quickly. Last week I actually, I think, incorrectly said they weren't doing any of the NMC. We are now last week, I believe, starting to process that back again. But give me a little snapshot of what exactly is going on and and is there hope here?

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Sure.

DHS Shutdown Timeline And Pay Reality

SPEAKER_01 14:11

This has been a really difficult situation for all of those members that serve across the Department of Homeland Security. I think uh many of your listeners will realize that the Coast Guard is a member of the Department of Homeland Security. We're a military service at all times, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard sits on the joint staff, but all of our funding comes through the Department of Homeland Security. And so when funding to the Department of Homeland Security is cut, it impacts the Coast Guard. And so just this fiscal year alone, so since October 1st of 2025, you know, we're not quite even six months into the fiscal year, 180 days into the fiscal year, but we've already had over 110 days where DHS employees have not been funded on time for their work. Now there are provisions that, you know, once these shutdowns end and once, you know, either temporary funding or annual funding gets provided, appropriated, that the employees will get back pay. But we've asked employees to work for 45 days on end, now over 70 days on end, without you know, actually paying them on time, without giving them any clarity as to uh when their next paychecks are coming. And that's having real consequences uh for our homeland security and in some cases for our national security as well. And so it's been a really difficult position. I appreciate you providing some perspectives on that last year and bringing this attention back to the forefront. As you noted, impact to uh the mariners that serve our nation and their ability to get uh licenses and credentials updated on time, uh, and and in cases, impact to other other events across uh service as well. And and I think what's really difficult about this is that the men and women of the Coast Guard that I know that I've served with, they all want to serve. They don't ask a five, they just want to be you know paid for for their work and given the opportunity to do the missions that they signed up for. And so this is really, you know, a difficult time for everybody to kind of see how our government handles these situations.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Well, and and and I think that that's important to note, right? The way that society understood that CSA agents were still showing up to work, but not getting paid, that is the same with Coast Guard right now, is that they we we are still doing drug interdictions, we are still doing homeland security by water, you know, all the things that Coast Guard does, safety, security, search and rescue, all of the incredible things that Coast Guard is tasked with are still happening, but they're certainly happening. I mean, we've been in this partial government shutdown for uh two months, it feels more than two months, perhaps. That's a long time for people to go without pay and yet still showing up to work. And so that's gotta be tolling and taxing on on their their kind of overall morale. And and you know, there was also last week, I believe we were chat chatting before, last week there was a return to work. And so actually, can you speak a little bit about there's kind of two different there's military coast guard, but then there's or officer or or you know, uh the the but then there's also civilian. And so can you speak a little bit about are both of those categories being captured by this? Is everybody being required to return to work? Is nobody kind of getting paid? There was that promise for the back pay, like you said, but still rent is due every month, you know, mortgages are due every month. And so that's why uh it it was so alarming to me last week to to kind of have this realization of like everybody is still not getting paid.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Sure.

Civilians Vs Uniformed Members

SPEAKER_01 18:06

There's there's a couple different issues at Plague here. And so let me hopefully I can I can make them clearer to your lesson. It's a complicated issue across the board, and every shutdown these are inherently political decisions made by our congressional leaders, and so the independent detective branch. And so they all have you know kind of their own twists and turns to them in each case. So let me let me hopefully clarify some of that. First of all, just like you said, the you know, the core missions of the service, what uh the government calls central functions are still being performed, but that doesn't mean that we should all be satisfied that you know lives are are getting saved and and you know drugs are being interdicted and those things because some of the planning uh functions, the acquisition of you know, supplies and new capabilities have stopped, some of the planning functions have stopped, the travel and outreach to uh members that they serve have stopped. And so all of those things are generally not considered as core essential functions and are generally you know stopped or slowed just to preserve kind of you know those basic response type measures. Let me try and also provide a little bit of clarity of kind of the timing of this and and who is impacted. As you noted, the coach are divided into uniformed service members, those are our active duty officer and members. You see them in the small boat stations, you see them in the aircraft, in the helicopters, and these folks do wonderful things. But we also have a very large civilian workforce, and these folks do wonderful things as well. Unfortunately, when it comes to shutdowns, they're not treated the same. Military members are required to work irrespective of whether they get paid or not. In the early days of the shutdown, they were afforded, I think, about uh two weeks or two pay periods worth of pay or about a month's worth of pay. And then there was a uh one-time makeup at the beginning of April where Secretary Bowman, the new Secretary, just used, you know, under direction of President Trump, used the funds to pay troops again. Our civilian members in in some cases, some of them are required to work without pay. In other cases, some of them are furloughed and not allowed to work and often not allowed to seek other employment while they're furloughed. And and in this case, they were recalled at the end of April. They were also afforded some back pay under Secretary Mullen's execution of the president's executive order. And so as of April 1st, you know, members had been paid for the time that they had served between February and April 1st. But now going forward, uh, Secretary Mullen indicated earlier this week in his testimony to Congress uh that he doesn't have enough money to keep paying the employees of DHS uh during the shutdown. He said payroll is about $1.6 billion every two weeks for the all the employees of DHS, and it's just not that much money available. And so the way forward is very unclear because right now everybody's been directed to come back to work, and folks have done that. These folks are good American citizens that that want to do, you know, want to get back to doing their mission that to the reason they they uh joined or served in Nakota, but it's not clear when we're gonna get them their next paycheck.

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SPEAKER_00 21:55

And that's

(Cont.) Civilians Vs Uniformed Members

SPEAKER_00 21:56

really important. I'm glad we clarified that. So they were paid through to April 1st. Or that kind of shutdown period in February through April 1st. And I'm so glad that you clarified this because as I was prepping for last week for my episode on this, it was unclear. It just even kind of general press coverage where Coast Guard kind of fell in that, and was it in line with some of the other things? It's just, it's everything is so politicized in this world that unfortunately the Coast Guard is, I mean, it feels like they're getting forgotten in the larger conversation. You know, there's this whole politics side of DHS. Feel how you want, but Coast Guard is such an important, pivotal, crucial role in the nation's security that it just can't keep getting caught in these political discussions. And uh, you know, unfortunately it it is. And it's unfortunately not captured under DOD directly. It is under Department of Homeland Security. And I only say unfortunately, because imagine if you were to go a few months without the Navy getting paid or the Army getting paid. I mean, that's the equivalency in my mind of kind of how severe this is. And so the the I'm I'm happy to hear that it it was members were paid up until April 1st. But again, going forward, you know, without having the money to pay for all of DHS, which includes Coast Guard, yeah, as we know, it's just such an I it's it's such a tragedy. I mean, it's just it's like I can't even quite capture the word of like this is horrible.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Yeah, and and I think, you know, look, I I um appreciate that uh members were paid, and I and I know that they appreciate that as well. Uh, but there's a whole lot of uncertainty that came with that. You know, if you figure for the last six months, you've spent almost four months working, you know, without a constant paycheck, that's not a comfortable position to be in. We don't know these these uh men and women are professionals across DHS, but we don't really understand how that impacts their decision making, how that impacts their focus on work. And what I would tell you too is that you know the way ahead for this is really complex and unclear as well.

Congress Moves And Coast Guard Waits

SPEAKER_01 24:10

I I think you'll tell your listeners we're getting a chance to talk here on Thursday. I think it's uh April 23rd. Stay tuned because it's really a developing story right now. Uh, just this morning, uh, the Senate voted to put together a reconciliation bill that would fund portions of the of DHS, specifically ICE and Customs Border Protection, through the end of the Trump administration. So provide three years of funding just for ICE and CBP. They did that because the House Republicans have held up the appropriation of DHS funding and action on Senate pass bill because they want assurances that there won't be another shutdown fight over ICE and CBP during President Trump's term. And so it's not clear that that bill, the Senate's action on that bill and the House action on that bill, it's probably gonna be a couple of weeks, if not a month, until that gets finalized. And so it's not clear if the House is gonna take up the Senate's past bill to provide funding for the rest of DHS, just for the rest of the year, which by the way is only until the end of September 30th this year. So at this point, it's about you know five or six months worth of funding. It's not clear when the House is gonna take that up. So we don't know how long this is gonna last, but we know that uh Congress is taking actions on it, you know, as we speak, uh as as we're talking about this this afternoon. And so stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

But even so, and and I appreciate that you said today is Thursday, April 23rd, that we are recording this in the afternoon. So we'll see by the time this runs tomorrow. But I appreciate that you you mentioned that what's happening is some carve-outs for ICE and CVP. But what isn't mentioned there then, right? The the obvious, well, okay, so that's moving forward, but Coast Guard is still kind of left in this lurch of you know, waiting for the politics to get sorted out before Coast Guard is then brought back into the fund the rest of DHS. It's almost too bad that it gets categorized in this the rest of DHS because it's it is, I mean, I can't say it enough. You obviously know it. That's a critical role. So we probably have Coast Guard members right now that are over in the Middle East that are helping with port security and some of the things that are happening there that are also not assured pay going forward. I mean, we actually have members of Coast Guard that are out there doing very critical, dangerous, important work. Part of all of the geopolitics of everything that's happening out there, and yet they're the ones that are standing right alongside men and women who are getting paid and probably actually getting tax benefits and all sorts of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

Right. Well, we do have Coast Guard men and women serving all over the world, all across the world today, and you know, on the front lines of national security missions, no matter no matter where they're working. And yet at this point they're doing it out with without the insurance of pay. You know, earlier you had mentioned that it's you know implausible to imagine that maybe dollars wouldn't be paid, you know, if there was a shutdown to DOD. Well, Congress found that implausible too. And so they passed a law a several years ago that required military members in the Department of Defense to be paid even when there is a government uh shutdown. Uh the Coast Guard, there's been a number of congressmen that have put forward the same provisions for Coast Guard members, but in each case that hasn't been approved or you know authorized. And so we the Coast Guard members remain in you know a difficult position.

Assistance Programs And Economic Stakes

SPEAKER_01 28:02

I can tell you that you know they are true professionals and that they are working hard, but it's really the erodion of you know trust in the government. Uh it's the erode and the impact that it has on families, that and and you know, spouses who are like, hey, enough is enough. You can find something else to do that that creates a problem. I'd also like to note though that there are a number of different organizations that have come forward to help. The Coast Guard has its own mutual assistance program called Coast Guard Mutual Assistance. They've been amazing at providing support for our members uh throughout. There's also, you know, Navy Federal Credit Union, USAA, uh, the big military uh banks and institutions have also been instrumental in providing either zero interest uh loans or deferred payments or those types of things to kind of help folks manage it. But this is no way to run a federal government agency that the maritime transportation provides you know $5.4 trillion of economic benefit to the country that's 25% of US GDP. The coast guard is really the one that's sitting there ensuring the state and security of that maritime transportation system. And so that's you know, this is a really important issue for goods to uh take note of, and I appreciate you uh bringing that back to the U.S.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Well, I appreciate your time and I appreciate you digging into this because, like I said, it was it was difficult to find true hard information on this out there just in the media and the press, whether it was uh industry specific for maritime or whether it was just uh out there generally for Coast Guards. So, you know, that I wanted to make sure that we got kind of the real story of what it actually is going on. You know, I also think that that hopefully, you know, this week was was Navy League doing their C Air Space Expo. There was also sail-in on the hill where the ship for America actually actually got reintroduced. So certainly this week there was conversations around maritime and military maritime. I would hope that Coast Guard was part of those conversations. I know they were at sea air space. I'm I'm hopeful that maybe there was a little bit of movement or or at least education or awareness that this is still going on, that while we have a lot of plans for maritime generally as a nation, it has to start with some great support for our our military members in the Coast Guard that are out there doing this. And and I thank you for your service and thank you to to the entire Coast Guard for all of the members and all of their service during this uncertain time. So thank you so much for joining me today. It sounds like you might be getting started back with your conference.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Well, thanks so much for having me, Laura. Again, big fan of uh what you're doing and helping to folks to understand how important this industry is and demystify different portions of it because it affects all of our lives. And so thanks for telling those stories.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Well, thank you so much. Great to see you, and we'll we'll have you back for sure. Thanks so much. Take care.

Coast Guard Is Not Optional

SPEAKER_00 31:02

That was retired Rear Admiral John Mauger, and I really appreciated the chance to have that conversation. This is the part that I don't want people to miss. The Coast Guard is not optional, and I don't think that we should start reading into this as a purposeful non-funding of the Coast Guard. I think that this is an accidental overstep. It's getting caught in a larger political conversation. It's not for the side agency to just quietly absorb political dysfunction without consequence. It's a massive, massive, mission-driven operational service that people depend on every single day, whether they realize it or not. And when funding and stability drags on, the consequences don't be neatly contained inside Washington. It's good for family, it's morale, it's operations, it's potentially a bad thing for an industry that we can. It's national purity, maritime security is national security. It's ripping across the broader maritime system. We have to take care of this now. The broader maritime system, point exactly why I think the conversation connected with the hearing that we just building an maritime industry this week through this larger conversation. One of the clearest messages from that hearing, as I said, was the maritime strength is not built by one-off gesture. It takes predictable demand, workforce investment, shiftier capacity, harder acquisition, and actual coordination across the system, a dedicated path that we are moving on. There's a lot of discussion about distributed shipbuilding, cargo preference, workforce shortages, design build before discipline, and the fact that the long-term commitment matters more than just the burst of attention. And I think that that's the most important part. We are rebuilding an entire movement with this maritime dominance return. It doesn't just apply to Navy ships or commercial maritime policy, it applies to everything, Coast Guard included. If you want readiness, if you want resilience, if you want a maritime nation, you can actually perform like one. Then you can't keep treating the Coast Guard like an afterthought. That's about as long as I'm gonna go. Yeah, this was a government funding story. It continues to be, I will continue to monitor this with UFTs as I get them, but I really needed to bring this back to you because I wanted to get a little bit more accuracy on what's happening here.

Follow, Training, And Consulting

SPEAKER_00 33:08

This is important. If you like this episode, be sure to follow for private labor if you want to go deeper on these topics or bring this kind of insight to your team, visit the maritimeprofessor.com to before corporate trainings, tailor briefings, and on-demand webinars all designed to make conflict maritime regulations practical and easy to understand. And if your organization needs help navigating the legal or strategic side of ocean shipping, head over to all strategies. That's where I provide the consulting services, regulatory guidance, and policy support for clients working in the city. As always, this podcast is for educational purposes only and not legal advice. If you need a con if you need an attorney, contact an attorney. Until next time, I'm Lauren Vegan, an Ameritine Professor, and you just listen to my land advice to be an academic.