The Liberian National Coast Guard is the naval force of

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. ...

, part of the

Armed Forces of Liberia The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) are the armed forces of the Republic of Liberia. Tracing its origins to a militia that was formed by the first black colonists in what is now Liberia, it was founded as the Liberian Frontier Force in 1908, and r ...

. Its main duties are law enforcement along Liberia's coast and in its maritime area, and aiding those in distress.

History

The Liberian National Coast Guard, was established in 1959.Accessed via GlobalSecurity.org Throughout the Tubman period the coastguard was little more than a few sometimes unserviceable patrol craft manned by ill-trained personnel, though its training improved in the 1980s to the point where it was considered the best trained of the armed services. In 1984 the Liberian National Coast Guard contained about 450 personnel. Under

Samuel Doe Samuel Kanyon Doe (6 May 1951 – 9 September 1990) was a Liberian politician who served as the 21st president of Liberia from 1980 to 1990. Doe ruled Liberia as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 to 1984 and then as ...

the Coast Guard was retitled the Liberian Navy in 1986 through the passage of The Liberian Navy Act of 1986. However, as a result of the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

Liberian civil wars, the navy lost control of its bases and was reduced to an insignificant force. The Coast Guard was reactivated on the 53rd Armed Forces Day on February 11, 2010, with an initial strength of 40 personnel who had been trained in the United States. A

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, ...

officer is now serving at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia supporting efforts to reestablish the Liberian Coast Guard. A detachment from

SeaBee , colors = , mascot = Bumblebee , battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philipp ...

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7, based at

Naval Station Rota Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota ( es, Base Naval de Rota, links=no), is a Spanish-American naval base commanded by a Spanish Rear Admiral. Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military com ...

, Spain, constructed a United States Africa Command-funded boat ramp and concrete perimeter wall for the Coast Guard, which was handed over in December 2010. In February 2011, the United States turned over two donated USCG Defender class boats to the Coast Guard.

Fleet

The fleet of the Liberian National Coast Guard currently consists of: * 2x 27'

Defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: *Defense (military) *Defense (sports) **Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...

(SAFE 27 Full Cabin) * 2x 33' Law Enforcement (SPC-LE) - based on Defender-class (SAFE 33 Full Cabin) * 2x 24' Boston Whalers

Ranks

The ranks and insignia of the Liberian National Coast Guard are based on those of the

, and are laid out in the Liberian Defense Act of 2008.

Officers

Enlisted personnel

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armed Forces Of Liberia Government of Liberia Military of Liberia 1950s establishments in Liberia