Save the Coast Guard from Navy Absorption

Efforts to transfer the Coast Guard into the Navy began only six years after the establishment of the Revenue Cutter Service. Between 1821 and 1933, at least twelve attempts were made to merge the two services. Bills introduced in 1821, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1846, 1859, 1882, 1884, 1893, 1919, and 1920 all failed.

In 1933, however, the Navy renewed its efforts with a new strategy: absorbing the Coast Guard officer corps into Navy ranks. This proposal likely gained traction following the passage of the Economy Act of 1933, legislation intended to reduce federal expenditures and authorizing the President to reorganize elements of the Executive Branch.
Extensive correspondence followed between Coast Guard leadership, the Secretary of the Treasury, members of Congress both supportive and opposed, and representatives of maritime industries.
A joint committee composed of Navy and Coast Guard officers convened and ultimately recommended that the Coast Guard be absorbed into the Navy in a manner similar to the Marine Corps. The proposal generated both strong support and strong opposition.
Internally, the Coast Guard resisted the move. One contemporary assessment observed:
“Much of the Navy motive for the present transfer movement is not a disinterested purpose to increase efficiency and reduce expenditures, but is rather a selfish purpose on the part of certain Navy officers to provide an outlet to relieve the present overcrowded condition in the commissioned personnel of the Navy, a situation which on its face prophesies stepchild treatment for the Coast Guard functions and personnel under Navy management.”
The Chief Warrant and Warrant Officers Association—then operating through its local Clubs—also played a significant role in opposing the merger. LCDR Augustus F. Pittman, formerly BOSN(T) and the first commanding officer of Division One’s CGC ALERT, later recalled that the Association was “instrumental in keeping the Coast Guard from the Navy during 1933–1934.”
According to Pittman, the warrant officer corps was politically active and engaged civilian counsel, including former Army Judge Advocate General General Ansell.
“Our attorney at the above time was General Ansell,” Pittman recalled, “who sent a telegram to each warrant officer and chief warrant officer requesting their utmost in a political manner to prevent same. I still have answers from congressmen and senators—all favorable. I don’t have to tell you who did all the work during the ‘Rum War.’”
The episode demonstrated not only the political awareness of the warrant officer corps, but also the growing influence of the Association as an organized and unified voice.
The effort to preserve the Coast Guard’s independence would become one of the early defining moments in the Association’s history.