Protecting U.S. Maritime Ports: Security in New Orleans
This paper reviews the essential security measures that should be adopted when constructing a new maritime port in the New Orleans area. Drawing on testimony from GAO-examined procedures and Coast Guard expertise, the paper outlines recommendations for interagency information sharing, operational command centers, vessel tracking technology, and communication protocols. It highlights the roles of the U.S. Coast Guard, federal intelligence agencies, and local stakeholders in maintaining port safety. Special attention is given to the unique vulnerabilities of a New Orleans port, including its exposure to hurricane activity and its reliance on foreign shipments across its waterways.
- Introduction: Post-9/11 port vulnerability and New Orleans context
- Recommendations for Securing U.S. Port Safety: GAO testimony and operational security center requirements
- Communication and Coordination Among Agencies: Pre- and post-9/11 interagency communication challenges
- Coast Guard Intelligence and Vessel Tracking: Coast Guard Island operations and vessel monitoring methods
- Conclusion: Port security guidelines and New Orleans-specific recommendations
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What makes this paper effective
- Grounds its policy recommendations in direct testimony and named expert sources, giving the argument credibility and specificity.
- Applies broad federal security guidelines to a concrete, localized scenario — a proposed New Orleans port — which anchors abstract policy in practical planning.
- Closes with a regionally specific consideration (hurricane vulnerability) that demonstrates awareness of context beyond generic security frameworks.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively synthesizes government testimony, professional journal articles, and news reporting into a unified policy argument. Rather than treating each source in isolation, the writer uses them to build a layered case — moving from federal recommendations, to communication challenges, to operational practice — demonstrating how multiple evidence types can reinforce a single thesis.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by contextualizing the post-9/11 security landscape and narrows to a specific proposal for New Orleans. It then moves through GAO-level recommendations, Coast Guard communication challenges, and frontline tracking operations before concluding with actionable guidance for the proposed port. The structure follows a funnel pattern: broad national policy to regional application.
Introduction
Following the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001, federal, state, and local agencies revised their security plans to protect cities and ports from potential future attacks. Among the most vulnerable areas are the 361 ports in the United States, most of which rely on receiving shipments from foreign sources. This paper reviews the steps that should be taken — to ensure safety for the physical facility and equipment, for workers, and for the public in the surrounding community — when a new port is being proposed for the New Orleans area.
Recommendations for Securing U.S. Port Safety
Stephen Caldwell was acting Director of Homeland Security in 2006 when the GAO examined the procedures for keeping ports safe, and he testified before the House Subcommittee on Government Management, Finance, and Accountability. His recommendations apply to any new port facility to be constructed in New Orleans. Caldwell called for "information sharing between federal officials and nonfederal officials" — some of it classified — that will enable the U.S. Coast Guard, which bears ultimate responsibility for port protection, to carry out its mission effectively.
Caldwell also testified that it is very important at every port to establish "operational centers." Those centers must include: (a) the latest leading-edge technologies — computers, databases, networks, and sensors — in order to monitor all approaching vessels, their home port, their cargo, and their history; (b) established security departments representing all valid stakeholders in that region; and (c) linkages to all federal, state, local, and private-sector participants (Caldwell, 2006).
Works Cited
Bryant, Dennis L. (2001). Protecting U.S. Ports. Traffic World, 265(40), p. 19.
Caldwell, Stephen L. (2006). Maritime Security: Information-Sharing Efforts are Improving. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Government Management, Finance, and Accountability, Committee on Government Reform, House of Representatives. U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Retrieved June 24, 2012, from
Nolte, Carl. (2005). Pacific Coast / U.S. security now a Coast Guard job / "Vessels of interest" being tracked by bay's military post. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 24, 2012, from http://0-web.ebscohost.com.
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