A Coast Guard small boat crew returns to the Coast Guard Cutter Resolute after conducting a check on a vessel with Haitian nationals in the Windward Passage on March 3, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard)
The Coast Guard is establishing a new command for its deployable specialized forces, the service said Wednesday.
The Special Missions Command will be based at the Coast Guard’s C5I Service Center in Kearneysville, W.Va. “C5I” stands for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber and Intelligence.
The Coast Guard said the new command would be commissioned “around Oct. 1, 2026.”
“The creation of the Special Missions Command is a vital evolution for our service,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, the commandant of the Coast Guard. “We are forging our most elite operators into a single, razor-sharp instrument of national power.”
The Special Missions Command will oversee:
National Strike Force: Responds to disasters and hazardous incidents with specialized teams and equipment.
Tactical Law Enforcement Teams: Provides law enforcement expertise, especially for counter‑trafficking missions.
Maritime Security Response Teams: The first responders to maritime terrorism and high-risk threats.
Maritime Safety and Security Teams: Rapidly deployable forces protecting ports, waterways and coastal areas.
Port Security Units: Provides expeditionary shoreside and waterborne security.
Regional Dive Lockers: Provides undersea capabilities for port security, navigation aids and ship maintenance.
Currently, control of specialized forces is divided between the Coast Guard’s two Area commanders, each led by a Coast Guard vice admiral.
The Atlantic Area, called LANTAREA, has its headquarters in Portsmouth, Va. The Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. East Coast ports and waterways are its areas of responsibility. It oversees Coast Guard operations in the eastern half of the United States, including search and rescue, law enforcement, maritime security and national defense readiness.
The Pacific Area (PACAREA), with headquarters in Alameda, Calif., has the same role in the western half of the United States. Its areas of responsibility include the Pacific Ocean, U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii and deployable units in the Indo-Pacific region.
The new command reflects the service’s continued evolution to address emerging technologies, heightened border-security demands, large‑scale contingencies and national special-security events.
Capt. Robert Berry, the precommissioning team leader for the Special Missions Command, said the newly aligned command structure would streamline decision-making and the deployment of Coast Guard specialized forces, which are in high demand because of what Berry termed the “geopolitical landscape.”
“The service has always turned to its specialized forces to respond to national threats and disasters, and establishing this command is the natural next step to enabling our forces to lead the way at the tip of the spear,” Berry said.
Additional units and capabilities may be added in the future, Berry said.
