Public Service Innovators -- Captain Joel Whitehead (NSF '97): Refocusing the Coast Guard

When planes hit the World Trade Center on September 11th, the Coast Guard's Captain Joel Whitehead, (National Security Fellow, 1997) was delivering remarks to a conference for local law enforcement in Louisiana --including the FBI and Secret Service - ironically -- on how to deal with maritime terrorism. "It was amazing. You could hear beepers go off [one after the other]" he said. Whitehead who is second in command of the 8th Coast Guard District, notes that 9/11 has meant a complete "re-racking of resources and focus."

The district, the Coast Guard's largest, spans all or pieces of 26 states from the Florida panhandle to the Gulf of Mexico including waterways between the Appalachian and the Rocky Mountains. As chief of staff Whitehead's job is ensuring smooth operations; whether it involves helicopters, jets or ships as well as managing resources whether people or dollars. The district's main missions -- search and rescue, aids to navigation, maritime safety and environmental protection -- took a huge shift on the morning of September 11th.

Whitehead quickly strengthened port security especially in the Gulf of Mexico where almost half of US oil imports arrive and where several huge petrochemical complexes are located - prime terrorist targets. After setting up a command staff, he ordered major coast guard vessels outside Gulf ports to control the traffic and gave captains authority to bear arms when boarding any incoming ship. In the following week, he was able to use reservists to work as sea marshals to take up positions on the bridge of any ship with a particularly hazardous cargo. Within a week they were able to run the names of all incoming crewmembers through an intelligence database in Washington to identify any potential threats.

Whitehead is proud of the Coast Guard's ability to respond as quickly as it did. He counters any complaints that the federal government isn't nimble enough, with the fact that the Coast Guard resources under his command shifted from 2 percent dedicated to fighting terrorism to 50 percent in the course of two days. He also notes that the Bush Administration has been helpful with new funding toward the creation of new positions toward homeland security.

There has been a sea change in public attitudes since the terrorist attacks, observes Whitehead, who went to the Coast Guard Academy in 1971 when military service wasn't popular due to the nation's involvement in Vietnam. Raised in a military family-dating all the way back to 1633 - Whitehead said it is especially gratifying now to be stopped in an airport for someone just to say "thank you."