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assets.Aviation-basedreplenishment of stores and equipment is possible off Barrow, but must be coordinated around native subsistence activities. Nome,Alaska,isaviableportforicestrengthenedbuoytendersforpier-side replenishmentandrefueling;however, largerCoastGuardcuttersrequirea portwithdeeperapproaches.TheclosestsuchdeepwaterU.S.porttoBarrow isDutchHarborontheAleutianIsland chain, located 1,200 nautical miles away. Current Capabilities Coast Guard cutters, aircraft, and response boats nearest to the region are fully engaged conducting other maritime missions and possess limited capacity to expand their operations Crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak prepare a canister with equipment and crucial repair parts to totheNorthSlope.Asaresult,Arctic be dropped to the 420-foot USCGC Healy near the North Pole. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Offcer missiondemandsmayrequirereprioriJonathan Lally. tizatingmissionsthatassetsarecurimpactingoperations—areminimalornonexistent rentlyperforming.Patrolcuttersandbuoytenders due to limited and degraded sensing capabilities, providecapacityduringthesummermonths,butonly exacerbatingthehazards. icebreakersprovidesafeyear-roundaccesstoArctic waters.Asthenation'sonlygovernmentalproviderof Additionally,only11percentoftheArcticOceanis ice-breakingservices,theCoastGuardisattheforesurveyedtomodernnauticalcharting standards.3 frontofemergingyear-roundoperations. Indeed,muchnavigationinformationinthesewaters isdevelopedfrompassinghands-oninformationand High-endurancecuttersandthenewnationalsecuexperiencefromonecrewtothenext.Insomeareas, ritycutters heCoastGuard'sprimarylong-range —t crewsareessentiallyconductingtheirownsurveys. offshoreassetsofthecutterfeetinthelowerlatitudes—a re not designed for nor strengthened to Operationally,communicationsinthenorthernlatioperateinice-coveredwaters.Ifmissionexecution tudesarepoorandunreliable.Withthemajorityof requiresassigningtheseassetstooperateintheArctic land-basedcommunicationsequipmentfocusedon region,riskmitigationrequirescriticalandcontinutheGulfofAlaskaandBeringSea,communications ousevaluationoficeconditionspriortoandduring neartheNorthSlopemainlyrelyonsatellites,which deployment.Thefour225-footseagoingbuoytenders areoftennotavailable24hoursaday.Installation stationedinAlaskaprovideimportantice-strengthandreliabilityofline-of-sightandbeyondline-ofenedcapability.However,thesignifcanttraveltimes sightcommunicationssystemsarehamperedbythe totheareaofresponsibilityandrelativelylimited extremeweatherconditionsandatmosphericproperenduranceaffectstheirabilitytoremainonsceneand tiesaffectingradiowavepropagation. stillhaveadequatetimetocompletetheirvitalmissionsinsouthernAlaskanwaters. Finally,logisticinfrastructureintheArcticisseverely limitedorunavailable.Facilitiesnecessaryforamajor TheCoastGuard'scurrentaviationassets,whilesigresponsesimplyarenotpresent.Littleexistsinthe nifcantforcemultipliersforcutters,arenotdesigned wayoffood,fuel,repairandmaintenancefacilities, tooperateinextremecoldtemperatures.Aviationfuel or staging for assets and personnel north of the Arctic gelsatnegative42°F(atemperaturecommonatsea Circle.Vessels,aircraft,andpersonnelmusteitherbe levelintheArctic).TheNorthSlopealsolacksfederal capableofextendedautonomousoperationsorhave facilities for sheltering and performing maintenance theabilitytoreplenishfromotherforward-deployed for shore-based aviation assets. For utter-based c 24 Proceedings Summer 2013 www.uscg.mil/proceedings