# Why is the Coast Guard underrepresented in fiction? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469 "2012-11-19T03:29:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/21 "2012-11-19T22:33:46Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > This despite being one of the safest branches to serve in since if anything happens to your boat you can just wade to shore. That seems…dismissive. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/22 "2012-11-19T23:03:52Z")
There are several riveting chapters in James Michener’s novel, _Alaska_, that covers one of the first coast guard ships, the revenue cutter \*Bear \*commanded by [Captain Michael Healy](http://www.uscg.mil/history/people/HealyMichaelindex.asp) as he chased rum smugglers in the Bering Sea in 1886. I have always thought that would make a rip-roaring film. And Healy was half black as well. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/23 "2012-11-19T23:27:58Z")
I work for the Coast Guard as a contractor. I think a lot of the reasons have been covered upthread. For one, the USCG is tiny compared to the other services. I’ve heard it said around here with regularity that the entire Coast Guard is smaller than the NYPD. I’m pretty sure that just about everyone has met several people that are in, or have been, in each of the other four uniformed services. How many people do you know who are in or have been in the Coast Guard? At least for me, I think I’ve met one person I wouldn’t have otherwise met from work. Second, the job of the Coast Guard is fundamentally different from the other services. Yes, the Coast Guard participates in armed conflicts, for instance, there are Coast Guard Cutters in the Gulf and Indian Ocean, but in times of war they fall under the command of the Navy, and any interesting fiction around naval warfare would, inevitably, fall on the Navy. What the Coast Guard does, they do very well, but it’s fairly routine. Even what could be dressed up to be exciting, like drug busts, probably couldn’t drive a whole plot by itself and you’d need the police, DEA, or whatever else in there as well. The Guardian was an excellent movie about the Coast Guard, but there just aren’t that many of those kinds of stories out there. Look at some of their biggest recent success stories in the public eye, like Hurricane Katrina and Deepwater Horizon, there just isn’t anything exciting about that, it was just “oh, there’s the Coast Guard doing what they do.” I can’t even remember ever hearing about one of their major drug intercepts making the news, even though I hear about some pretty impressive ones internally from time to time. Third, the Coast Guard is often looked down about by the other services and, in many cases, by the public in general. As several people who have served in other services and then come to work here have said, they generally look at the Coast Guard as where people go who couldn’t get into other services, or wanted an easier service. Of course, that’s not true, they actually have pretty stict standards; one former recruiter said had told me he could only accept about one out of every five or six people. But regardless, it seems that image largely remains. So, yeah, the Coast Guard just isn’t in the public consciousness, and any fiction you might write about them probably falls into a more accessible areas like the Navy or NYPD/DEA kind of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/24 "2012-11-19T23:49:41Z")
I grew up in Alaska and have huge respect for the CG. They were and are front and center in Alaska news year round. Their SAR teams are the best in the business, working in conditions we can’t even imagine. They’re also a big deal on the Oregon coast, particularly near the Columbia River Bar, where they’ve saved countless lives. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/25 "2012-11-19T23:56:08Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > This despite being one of the safest branches to serve in since if anything happens to your boat you can just wade to shore. The Colunbia River in Oregon flows into the Pacific at the Columbia Bar, a systtem of reefs and sandbars that has sunk over 2000 large ships since 1792. Since the Columbia does not have a delta, the river’s current shoots out like a fire hose; in winter conditions, swells can run 20 - 30 feet. It’s one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the world; mariners call it “The Graveyard of the Pacific.” The Coast Guard trains in it. In ships that are designed to survived being rolled. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/26 "2012-11-20T00:09:29Z")
Danger = Drama There’s an element of danger to most jobs in the other armed forces. For the USCG the rescue swimmer is the only routinely dangerous job and drowning just isn’t as dramatic as being shot, blown up, shot down, captured, tortured, or sunk. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/27 "2012-11-20T00:10:32Z")
Though the more common cause of death in the services in nominal peacetime and behind-the-lines is training/operational accidents, but I see your point. Maybe the producers should try for lighter fare? > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > In terms of TV and film, it might also be a factor that the Coast Guard uniform is hard to distinguish from the Navy’s. Unless you had an establishing shot of the orange stripe on the ship, an audience might see any uniformed characters on a ship and assume they’re Navy. This could also apply to the U.S. Public Health Service and NOAA, which are also uniformed services. The Navy has kind of helped with that one now that they changed over their work uniforms to blue/grey digital cammies and their officewear to use more khakis. But it’ll probably take quite a few Navy-themed movies and TV episodes to imprint that. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/28 "2012-11-20T00:11:03Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > I’m not a huge Tom Clancy fan, but the crew of a (fictional) US Coast Guard Cutter played a significant role in “Clear and Present Danger.” One I was going to mention. The Coast Guard also gets some solid hero scenes in _The Perfect Storm_, both a chopper rescue and a cutter. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/29 "2012-11-20T00:27:33Z")
There’s a show about the Australian coast guard “Sea Patrol” that’s on during the days here, it’s actually pretty decent. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/30 "2012-11-20T00:31:53Z")
I seem to remember USCG HH-65 Dolphin helicopters assisting the Baywatch team from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/31 "2012-11-20T01:19:06Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > There’s a show about the Australian coast guard “Sea Patrol” that’s on during the days here, it’s actually pretty decent. It is indeed a good show, but the characters are Navy, not Coast Guard. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/32 "2012-11-20T02:18:52Z")
I think there’s a Coast Guard team that shows up in NCIS occasionally, but I don’t follow the show. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/33 "2012-11-20T02:23:27Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It is indeed a good show, but the characters are Navy, not Coast Guard. :smack: I need to pay more attention methinks. ---
**Author:** ![palacheck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@palacheck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palacheck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/34 "2012-11-20T02:58:35Z")
With the cartels and such, I’ll bet a number of the men and women of the Coast Guard see more combat than some of our troops in the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/35 "2012-11-20T03:06:12Z")
It’s just the weak public image. Everybody thinks of the Coast Guard as hassling weekend boaters. All they need is a really good one hour drama series to turn things around. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/36 "2012-11-20T03:10:22Z")
Dave Barry’s comic crime novel Tricky Business portrys the Coast Guard in a sexy crimefighting light. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/37 "2012-11-20T03:51:47Z")
> [@MarcusF](#): > > And the [Eagle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Eagle_(WIX-327))has a leading role in S M Stirling’s \*Island in the Sea of Time \*series along with its Captain and crew… Dang, someone beat me to it. The Coast Guard helps Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell get together in _Overboard_. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/38 "2012-11-20T15:47:52Z")
I had a chance to go aboard the sailing ship USCGC _Eagle_ in Boston a few months back, and it was great. I asked one of the young officers how long he thought it would remain in service and he said, with proper upkeep and periodic overalls, “forever.” Fun fact: it was originally a training ship for Nazi Germany; we captured and kept it as a war prize after WWII. Although it got mixed reviews at the time, my teenage son and I enjoyed _The Guardian_. Some exciting scenes, and a good mentor-student dynamic between Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. The William Shatner and James Spader characters on _Boston Legal_, swept up by post-9-11 patriotism, become Coast Guard Reserve JAG officers because… they’re too old to qualify for any other military service. A fictional Coast Guard cutter is captured by latter-day pirates of the Caribbean in the Peter Benchley book _The Island_, and the not-nearly-as-good Michael Caine movie inspired by it. > [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > …The Coast Guard also gets some solid hero scenes in _The Perfect Storm_, both a chopper rescue and a cutter. Yes, definitely. I remember from the book that the rescue swimmers are so macho and phlegmatic that the most they will say about dropping into terrifyingly mountainous seas is that the mission was “sporty.” _Sporty!_ I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/40 "2013-02-01T17:40:10Z")
Location, location, location. The other four branches of the military can go places, both across the country and internationally, expanding storyline possibilities. The Coast Guard has very defined and limited territory. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469/41 "2013-02-01T23:10:55Z")
The Coast Guard is the dominant branch of the military in SM Stirling’s Nantucket triology, but it’s the Republic of Nantucket’s Coast Guard which is really a navy (& was to be named as such, but Alston fought tooth & nail against it). The only military vessel caught up in The Event just happened to be a USCG training ship (that was also conviently a sailing ship). They even have a Marine Corp working for them (Nantucket being a thalassocracy). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-coast-guard-underrepresented-in-fiction/641469.md?page=3)