SAAB’s mantra of teaming up with India for India and in India

SAAB’s mantra of teaming up with India for India and in India: By Sangeeta Saxena New Delhi. 16 May, 2016. “We want to be in India, for India and with India for modernisation of its defence forces , systems for safe air and maritime environment along with a secure homeland. We are…Read more ›

US asks Pakistan to fund its purchase of F-16s

US asks Pakistan to fund its purchase of F-16s: Senate blocks subsidy for the sale of eight F-16s to Pakistan By JK Verma  New Delhi. 15 May, 2016. The civilian government of Nawaz Sharif which is already under immense pressure, due to the leak of Panama papers which…Read more ›

Indian Army down the ages

Indian Army  down the ages: By Team ADU 07 May, 2016. To the surprise of many in the generation gone by and the senior generation of today, youngsters do not have their fundamentals clear about the history of the phrase Indian Army. The social…Read more ›

FFV Ordnance Celebrates 40 Years In India At DEFEXPO 2016

FFV Ordnance Celebrates 40 Years In India At DEFEXPO 2016: Quepem. Goa. 29 March, 2016. The Carl-Gustaf M4 is the latest man-portable shoulder-launched multi-purpose weapon system from FFV Ordnance, designed to provide users with flexible capability and help troops remain agile in any scenario. For decades, Saab has been represented…Read more ›

US Air Force General Lori Robinson to command Northern Command

US Air Force General Lori Robinson to command Northern Command: Washington DC. 03 May, 2016. On April 28, the US senate created history by confirming  General Lori J. Robinson as commander of U.S. Northern Command,  thereby making her in charge of all military activity in North America. She’s currently the Commander…Read more ›

Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC in an exclusive interview to ADU

Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC in an exclusive interview to ADU: “We maintain that Army should be utilised as an instrument of last resort, after exhaustion of all resources of the state to meet internal challenges. This will be in line with Army being an ‘Instrument of Last Resort’ and will…Read more ›

Operation Dracula : Indian forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese.

Operation Dracula : Indian forces captured Rangoon, Burma, from the Japanese.: By Sangeeta Saxena Kohima.03 May,2016. On my battle tracking I came across a worn-out yellow coloured pillar on the road from Dimapur to Kohima put by the Border Roads. It said , “World War II- After the Battle of…Read more ›

In 2016 are India & China a little more friendly?

In 2016 are India & China a little more friendly?: By JK Verma New Delhi.01 May 2016.  Arguably India’s most important neighbour is China and every little change  in the long turbulent relationship between the two Asian giants, makes not only the region but also the world look up and…Read more ›

Export of ARMS and Ammunition in the recent past

Export of ARMS and Ammunition in the recent past: New Delhi. 26 April,2016. Arms and ammunition produced by the domestic ordnance factories are being exported. The details and nature of the arsenals exported during each of last three years country-wise are as under:   Year Country Nature of Items…

Deployment along Indo-Pak Border strengthened

Deployment along Indo-Pak Border strengthened: New Delhi. 26 April, 2016. National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is investigating the terror attack on Pathankot Airbase, has informed that the terrorists had infiltrated from Pakistan side crossing the border. The exact mode and route taken by them are still…

Naval Detachment Inaugurated at Lakshadweep

Naval Detachment Inaugurated at Lakshadweep: New Delhi. 26 April. A Naval Detachment (NAVDET) at Androth Island of Lakshadweep was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, AVSM, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command today. The setting up of a naval detachment will extend Indian naval…

Sino-Indian border personnel meet on Harvest Festival

Sino-Indian border personnel meet on Harvest Festival: Leh. 14 April, 2016. Ceremonial Border Personnel Meetings (BPMs) on the occasion of “Harvest Festival’’ was conducted on today at Indian BPM hut in Chushul and  at Indian Meeting Point Hut at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) in Eastern Ladakh. The…

Ashton Carter all set to forge closer ties with India

Ashton Carter all set to forge closer ties with India: By Sangeeta Saxena New Delhi. April 8, 2016. As Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s high profile visit to India began with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s home state Goa, the  progress in aircraft carrier, jet fighter, and jet engine collaboration will be…

Indo-Thai coordinated patrol (CORPAT) in Andaman Sea

Indo-Thai coordinated patrol (CORPAT) in Andaman Sea: New Delhi. 23 April 2016. INS Karmuk, an indigenously built Missile Corvette based at the Andaman and Nicobar Command, alongwith a Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft, are participating in the 22nd Indo-Thai Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) in the Andaman Sea. Maritime interaction between India…

Sino-Indian relationship : A little more friendly in Modi’s regime

Sino-Indian relationship : A little more friendly in Modi’s regime: Parrikar’s maiden visit to China begins By Brig.Vijay Atray & Sangeeta Saxena. Singapore & New Delhi. 18 April, 2016. Amidst mumbles of discontent and sharp Indian reactions on Beijing’s move to block India’s attempts in the UN to ban Pakistan-based…

Women climb higher in US army ranks

Women climb higher in US army ranks

·         10^th Mountain Div gets its first lady Brigadier

·         Army Rangers get their first women officers

By  Sangeeta Saxena

New Delhi.  US has come a long way  since the American Revolutionary War, women served the U.S. Army in traditional roles as nurses, seamstresses and cooks for troops in camp. Army Col. Diana Holland, the 10th Mountain Division’s deputy commander for support, was promoted to brigadier general and became the first woman to serve as deputy commanding general in any US Army light infantry division.

 Holland is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan this fall as the division’s deputy commanding general for support, in support of Operation Resolute Support. Holland previously deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division to Iraq in 2004 and led the 92nd Engineer Battalion and the 130th Engineer Brigade during deployments in Afghanistan.

 Holland was among 895 second lieutenants who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1990. It was the 10th class to graduate women and the first to have a female cadet serve as first captain, the highest leadership position in the Corp of Cadets. Approximately 2,000 of the 7,000 lieutenants who received their commission that year went on to reach the rank of colonel, and only 40 have been selected to become brigadier generals.

Lauding  the noncommissioned officers with whom she has worked throughout her career she  said, “As a leader in the Army, we are charged with inspiring our soldiers but I often found myself inspired by them.” Previously, 18 of the Army's 308 generals were women. Now Holland has joined their ranks.

In another first Captain Kristen Griest and First Lieutenant Shaye Haver became first women to wear the tabs of  US army rangers. An Apache helicopter pilot from Copperas Cove, Texas, Haver said she plans to return to her unit. Griest, a military police officer from Orange, Connecticut, said she’s interested in special forces operations should they open their teams up to women. She said that she had wanted to become a ranger for years, and both she and Haver said that they wanted the best training the army could provide.

To trace history General Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Florence Blanchfield to be a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, making her the first woman in U.S. history to hold a permanent military rank. A member of the Army Nurse Corps since 1917, Blanchfield secured her commission following the passage of the Army-Navy Nurse Act of 1947 by Congress. Blanchfield had served as superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps during World War II and was instrumental in securing passage of the Army-Navy Nurse Act, which was advocated by Representative Frances Payne Bolton.

And it has not been a bed of roses as many would like to believe, for these women. During the War in Iraq, three Army women become prisoners of war in the first days of the invasion and total casualties to date in the two Gulf Wars is 98. And they are great soldiers who don't make excuses about their gender. 42 women in different ranks of the Army became casualties in Afghanistan.

During the Revolutionary War, women follow their husbands to war out of necessity. Many serve in military camps as laundresses, cooks, and nurses but only with permission from the commanding officers and only if they proved they were helpful. Deborah Sampson served for over a year in General Washington’s army disguised as a man. After being wounded, her gender was discovered and she was honorably discharged. Later, she received a military pension from the Continental Congress.

In the last two years of World War I, women are allowed to join the military. 33,000 women served as nurses and support staff officially in the military and more than 400 nurses died in the line of duty. During World War II, more than 400,000 women served at home and abroad as mechanics, ambulance drives, pilots, administrators, nurses, and in other non-combat roles. Eighty-eight women are captured and held as POWs (prisoners of war). In 1948 Congress passed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act granting women permanent status in the military subject to military authority and regulations and entitled to veterans benefits.

During the Korean War, over 50,000 women served out of whom 500 serve in combat zones as nurses. In the Vietnam War, over 7,000 women served, mostly as nurses in all five divisions of the military, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard in Vietnam and all were volunteers. In 1973 the military draft (only for males) ended and an all-volunteer military was formed creating opportunities for women. In 1976 the first females were admitted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to be trained in military science.

The US Army Women’s Museum is on the Fort Lee Army Post uses uniform displays, pictures, recordings, dioramas, static displays, and material and equipment to tell the story of women who have served in wars and military operations from the American Revolution through the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As the name suggests, the museum is all about women’s role in the history of the Army.

BRO  all set to fill the yawning gap at Sino-Indian border

By Sangeeta Saxena

New Delhi. As Border Roads Organisation turned fifty five this year, there is something new and promising which catches the eye. It has stopped sailing  with it’s feet on two boats- Ministry of defence and  Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The BRO which has been functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Defence (MoD), gets it’s budget reflected in the Demands for Grants under from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) until year 2014-15. Accordingly, from the financial year 2015-16, the budget of BRO has also been shifted from MoRTH to MoD.

Vide Gazette Notification dated 9th January, 2015, all matters relating to Border Roads Development Board and Border RoadsOrganisation have been placed under Ministry of Defence in Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961. In another development instruction has been issued for E-procurement in BRO for ensuring transparency.

A civil engineering institution responsible to provide civil (construction) engineering cover to the Armed Forces of India, during war and peace,BRO is the brain child of India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It has till date constructed 28,342 km of formation cutting, 32,885 km of surfacing, 12,200 metres of permanent bridges and has undertake Rs 2039 crore (USD 436 Million) worth of permanent works. Over 75 percent of BRO’s road construction projects are in High Altitude Areas (HAAs). It is presently building 2,764 km of a total of 5,061 km road length in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh alone.

Government has identified 73 roads for development along the International Border with China. Of these 73 Indo-China BorderRoads (ICBRs), 61 roads of total length 3410 km have been entrusted to Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Certain norms have been relaxed for projects concerning national defence and security or involving other strategic considerations. Out of 61 ICBRs with BRO, 19 roads of length 625 Km has already been completed. The connectivity (formation work completed) has been achieved on 24 roads and the work is under progress on 16 roads, while works on 2 roads is yet to commence. Out of the remaining 42 ICBRs, the target set for completion for 40 ICBRs is 2018 and for 2 roads the completion is expected to go beyond 2018.

Measures have  been taken to improve the work in BRO as Prime Minister Narendra  Modi’s second pet project after Make in India is Make for India. The financial powers of ground executive have been enhanced for speedy sanction and execution of works. In order to introduce the latest art of technology being used by various developed countries the officers of BRO are being sent on training in various foreign countries. Inspection of works on roads is being carried out regularly by executives at Project, Task Force level and by Regional inspection teams to ensure the quality of works. In case of delay in completion of works Chief Engineer Projects are counselled to show greater diligence in the achievement of laid down targets.

An important reason why India is lagging far behind China with regard to roads and rail near the LAC is their very different perceptions of border infrastructure. Besides the very difficult terrain and hostile weather conditions in which roads in the Himalayas have to be built , problem is also due to the unrealistic deadlines set by the government. Challenges like land acquisition and environmental clearances delay the projects . Also forest and wildlife clearance, hard rock stretches, limited working season, difficulties in availability of construction material due to natural disaster such as flash floods earthquake , avalanches and snow create hindrances for BRO. The GREF (Ground Reserve Engineering Force)as it is also called, ensures restoration of damaged bridges in addition to road infrastructure .

The yawning gap in the quantity and quality of India and China’s infrastructure near the LAC has multiple and far reaching implications. This is why a rejuvenated , self sufficient , motivated and diligent Border Roads Organisation is the need of the hour.

CRPF defends the nation at HotSprings in 1959

An event that changed the course of Indian history

CRPF’s Operation Hot Springs

By Sangeeta Saxena

The CRPF men who gave the supreme sacrifice at Hotsprings

New Delhi. Very few Indians know that it was the Police personnel who were responsible for manning the 2,500 mile long border of India with Tibet until the autumn of 1959. On October of that year, at a height of 15,300 feet above sea level, in temperatures much below zero at Hot Springs in Ladakh,10 policemen were killed in an unequal combat with heavily armed Chinese troops.  

In early September a patrol party of Indian soldiers was captured east of Chushul by the Chinese and released in the beginning of October. It was a time when the nearest Army Garrison was at Leh. The only units available for the Indian Government to use to project force quickly were the IBTF(Indian Border Task Force) and the CRPF(Central Reserve Police Force) units in the area. As a repercussion the two forces, got orders from the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Home Affairs on 22" September to establish new posts right at the Chinese occupation line in Ladakh. For all intents and purposes the jurisdiction of the operation was given to the IBTF units under DSP Karam Singh and a force of forty CRPF personnel deputed to the IBTF under DSP S.P. Tyagi. The first outpost was supposed to be at a place called Hot Springs.

Memorial for the brave at Hotsprings 

On October 20, 1959, three reconnaissance parties were launched from Hot Springs in North Eastern Ladakh in preparation for further movement of an Indian expedition which was on its way to Lanak La. While members of two parties returned to Hot Springs by the afternoon of that day, the third one comprising of two Police Constables and a Porter did not return. Karam Singh sent out a larger team of ten policemen to go out and look for the three lost men who returned at 2300 hours that same night without success. But interestingly they had discovered hoof -prints on the ground which was proof of Chinese soldiers in the area.

At 0700 hours the next morning, on the fateful day of October 21, 1959, Karam Singh and Tyagi led a team of around twenty policemen armed with bolt action rifles in search of the missing policemen on ponies. The rest of the force was ordered to follow behind on foot. They reached the point of the hoof –prints, dismounted and awaited the arrival of the main force. On the arrival of the main party it was decided that Tyagi would stay behind and command this larger force while Karam Singh and his small group of twenty would follow the tracks and see if they led to the Chinese intruders in that sector. Because of the hill feature along the bank of the Chang Chenmo River where the hoof –prints continued, the two parties lost contact. At about midday, Chinese Army personnel who had the advantage of height by camping on a hillock, opened fire and threw grenades at Karam Singh’s party.

In the massacre ten CRPF men laid their lives  and nine were wounded. The main force under Tyagi was forced to retreat and their attempts to recover the bodies of the dead CRPF men later in the night went in vain since many of the forty men under his command had also been wounded to some degree or another and the Chinese still dominated the hill above the riverbank which they continued to hold even on the 22^ndOctober when Tyagi was finally ordered to retrieve his remaining force back to Tsogstsalu. Four of the more seriously injured policemen under Tyagi were airlifted to Srinagar on November first to be placed in a Military Hospital there.

For Karam Singh and the other prisoners the tragedy had just begun. Five of them were made to carry the dead body of the Chinese soldier who had been killed. They were all put together in a pit six feet deep, seven feet wide and fifteen feet long, normally used for storing vegetables. It was covered with a tarpaulin which left several openings through which the ice-cold breezes penetrated. We had to spend the night on the frozen ground without any covering. No water for drinking was provided nor were they permitted to ease themselves during the night and the following day. For the first three or four days they were given only dry bread to eat. Frostbite had started to set in due to the extrme cold.

DSP Karam Singh 

On the 24th Karam Singh was shown the corpses of the Indian policemen killed during the gunfire and asked to identify them. Then for the next twelve days he was tortured along with the others to make him admit that the Indians had opened fire and precipitated the skirmish, which he didn’t. The interrogation continued on the 27^th and 28^th . On 29^th along with Karam Singh and his fellow prisoners,  Chinese also returned the three Indian policemen for whom Karam Singh’s search party had started the hunt. The body of Constable Makhan Lal was never returned and remained unacknowledged by the Chinese. The last time he was seen was where the Chinese had forced Karam Singh and his men to leave his wounded body on the bank of the Chang Chenmo River under the protection of Chinese soldiers. He was most likely neglected and died of his wounds but there are no confirmations of this ruthless act on the part of the Chinese.

The bodies of the ten brave CRPF men were returned by the Chinese at the Sino-Indian border on November 13, 1959. At 8:00 AM on November 14, 1959, the bodies of the CRPF men were cremated with full police honors at Hot Springs. Karam Singh received a national hero's welcome. He was awarded the President's Police Medal by Prime Minister Nehru himself. The day of this gallant sacrifice is now commemorated as Martyrs Day by the Police all over India. Every year on this day, representatives of all the Police Forces in India gather at the Martyrs Memorial at Hot Springs to pay tribute to the Martyrdom of these brave hearts.

New Delhi got the news of the surrender of Karam Singh and his group of survivors under devastating Chinese fire on October 22, a day after the tragedy. On October 23 the Ministry of External Affairs submitted a note of protest to the Chinese Ambassador in Delhi. However, on the inside, Prime Minister Nehru and the Army Commanders had immediately come to realize that the region could not be left to the IB and police alone and army definitely needed to step in. Two days later from October 25 the Indian outposts in the region began receiving reinforcements and medical. On October 27 the Chinese Foreign Ministry informed India and the world that it was prepared to release the captured Indian policemen "at any time". On November 15, 1959, the Indian Army took over direct command of the frontier with China. It was one of the most crucial events leading up to the 1962 war.

Will it be a level playfield in Modi’s India for both Indian and foreign defence industries?

By Sangeeta Saxena

New Delhi. When  Arun Jaitely India’s new defence Minister who also holds the dual charge of Finance Minister in Narendra Modi’s government, stated, India’s military, one of the world’s largest arms importers, aims to speed up defence procurement in the interests of national security, just days after announcing a tentative 100 percent FDI in defence, the Indian indigenous industry is skeptic whether these decisions will turn out to be a boon or a bane. The Nation has very clearly voted for development and  policy regimes that facilitate building a strong defence Industry in India are the need of the hour. But will 100 % FDI over the board help the indigenous defence industry? And this means both public and private defence sectors.

While the public sector firms are still trying their best to protect their turf, the biggest push to get more private players involved came when the Planning Commission called for Indian companies to be prime contractors for all major contracts. For private sector companies, which currently account for just 20% of India’s defense spending, this hand holding seems to have come at just the right time. The new procedures have a “buy and make Indian” provision — which means only local companies, including joint ventures with overseas companies, can enter bids for contracts.

India’s military expenditure accounts for 80% of South Asia’s total military expenditure and its defence industrial base is currently the second-largest industry after its railways. India has promulgated a new Defence Procurement Procedure 2013 with effect from June 1, 2013. While the policy is aimed at laying a strong emphasis on promoting indigenisation and creating a level playing field for the Indian Industry the government has sent a clear signal to major stakeholders in its defence industry to go for defence imports only as the very last route.

The new guidelines make it clear that while seeking the approval for Accord of Necessity (AoN) in a particular category, say, Buy (Global), it will now be necessary to give justification for not considering the other higher preference categories. This is expected to give a stronger impetus to indigenization and inevitably reduced imports from abroad. Foreign vendors can derive solace from the fact that under the new policy, the validity period of an AoN has been reduced from two years to one year. This will bring down the processing time of individual cases significantly.

Another point of interest is that the new Indian policy aims at speeding up the procurement cases. Service chiefs, heads of important defence bodies like Indian Coast Guards and other key functionaries have been given more freedom and their fiscal powers have been raised from the existing Rs 50 crore (US$8.85 million) to Rs 150 crore (US$26 million).

Stipulations related to the indigenous content have been clarified and made more stringent. Indigenous content requirements will now extend all the way to the lowest tier of the sub-vendor. Hence, import content in the products supplied by the sub-vendors will not qualify towards indigenous content.

The basic equipment must have minimum 30 percent indigenous content at all stages including the one offered at the trial stage. It has further been stipulated that an indigenisation plan will be provided by the vendor. These stipulations will ensure more meaningful efforts towards indigenisation. While a penalty has been stipulated for not achieving the required indigenous content at a given stage, a scope to make up the deficiency at later stages has been provided.

Likewise, in the Buy and Make (Indian) cases, there is no stipulation regarding the minimum indigenous content in the Buy component and the Indian vendor is given the elbow room to achieve the prescribed indigenous content in the overall delivery. This enables the Indian vendor the time to absorb Transfer of Technology (ToT), set up manufacturing facility while concurrently meeting the service requirements.

But this summer sees a new government and one which has it’s strong views on indigenization and FDI. Expecting a further change in the DPP post budget will not be thinking aloud. India has been the world’s largest arms importer every year since 2010, as its defence industry struggles to keep up with its international ambitions. The volume of major weapons imports more than doubled between 2004-08 and 2009-13 and India’s share of the volume of international arms imports increased from 7% to 14%, according to the latest report released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

So does this mean the governments in the past never found the indigenous industry capable enough and hence bought either off the shelf or contracted from foreign OEMs? When it comes to requirements of the Indian Airforce the indigenous aircraft manufacturer HAL found it hard to chew and hence the pace has been very slow. Had the manufacturing opened up to the private industry big Indian names which have been creditably producing for army, navy and homeland security requirements could have come ahead with a plan for aircraft manufacturing too. If small European countries could have their indigenous production, would India have lacked the will power, investment and technical knowhow in it’s own industry?

“This government is committed to national security and we feel the red tape involved in purchase of defence equipments must be cut down . Balancing the resource constraint and making available all the resources that are required for national security is going to be the approach of the government,”  Jaitley said on the sidelines of a ceremony to commission two coastguard ships. Which very categorically means that the bureaucracy and babus have had their field days and it’s time now for hassle free purchase of defence equipment. A reason of happiness for both private players and foreign OEMs.

100% FDI might be a welcome step as far as the foreign OEMs are concerned but the Indian indigenous industry is looking at it skeptically. Even the big ones feel it will be giving too much on the platter to the global big wigs. So why not follow the age old dictum of slow and steady wins the race? This could be  a win-win situation for both the parties.

Punishment, Solution or Political Face Saving

South Korea disbands Coast Guard 

By Sangeeta Saxena

New Delhi. When the 6,825-ton ferry Sewol, carrying an estimated 476 people, sank off South Korea’s southwest coast on April 16, leaving more than 300 people dead or missing, the world had not anticipated that the axe would fall on the country’s maritime guarding force Coast Guard.

The government has come under fire over for it’s passive and uncoordinated response to the disaster. Allegedly, none of the Coast Guard's officers were found to have entered the sinking vessel in the early hours of the disaster, and an emotionally charged South Korean  President announced the disbanding of the force. "The coast guard's rescue operations were virtually a failure," Park said in a nationally televised speech. She is pushing for a legislation that would transfer the coast guard's responsibilities to the national police agency and a new government body she plans to establish. According to President Park Geun-hye , "investigation and information roles will be transferred to the [Korean] police while the rescue and salvage operation and ocean security roles will be transferred to the Department for National Safety which will be newly established".

It’s true that the coast guard needs to be reformed, but disbanding it because it has botched up rescue operations isn’t a very  matured response. Haeyang-gyeongchal-cheong, literally Maritime Police Agency is responsible for maritime safety and control off the coast of South Korea. The KCG is an external branch of Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries at peacetime. Recently, with continuous border crossings by Chinese watercraft, the Korean Coast Guard has deployed a significant number of heavy vessels to the Yellow Sea. The KCG has its headquarters in Songdodong, Incheon, and has hundreds of smaller operating stations along the coastline of the Korean Peninsula.

The Coast Guard Authority was formed on 23 December 1953 in Busan, at the same time a Maritime Police Unit was also established as part of the National Police Agency. In October 1962, new bases were established in Incheon, Yeosu, Pohang, and Kunsan. In February 1963, the aviation unit of the KCG closed, though it reopened in the 80's. Since 1980 the KCG began expanding its fleet largely, and in August 1991 the Police Unit was renamed the Korea National Maritime Police Agency. In 2007 the Korea National Maritime Police Agency was integrated into the Coast Guard.

 In the early 21st century, the fleet expanded to include various vessels of over 3,000 tons, and as of January 2002, the 'Korean Coast Guard Special Operation Unit' was officially formed. In the May 2008, the "Search & Rescue Maintenance Unit" was newly constructed, and as of late 2008, various sub-agencies changed infrastructural composition. The Korean Coast Guard plans to field more vessels over 5000 tons by 2015, and expand its asymmetric warfare force significantly by encouraging participation from other branches of the police.

The Korean Coast Guard operates 4 classes of heavy vessels (over 1000 tons), 3 classes of medium vessels (over 250 tons), and 3 classes of light vessels (speedboats over 30 tons). The KCG also uses several types of 'special purpose watercraft', such as firefighting vessels, barges, high speed scout boats, light patrols, and amphibious hovercraft. The KCG aviation unit fields 6 fixed-wing aircraft and 16 rotary-wing aircraft.

Rescuing isn’t the only job it has in hand. Korea Coast Guard ensures to protect sea from maritime crime and keep maritime security and peace. It has always been in the forefront for surveillance of marine pollution and prevention of hazardous spills in order to keep waters clean and to preserve abundant marine resources. It has always responded quickly against international maritime crimes including enforcement of Alien Migrant Interdiction by seizing current tendency of international crime. It performs to build a clean maritime environment through prevention activities thoroughly against hazardous spills or discharge and perfect pollution control. And traditionally the force has executed all these tasks well.

The onus of the disaster has been put on the Coast guard whereas the responsibility was to be shouldered by Maritime Police Agency and Korean Navy along with them. The Defense Ministry had appointed Adm. Hwang Ki-chul, the chief of naval operations, to lead the rescue support team, including the 14,000-ton amphibious landing ship Dokdo, three military aircraft and hundreds of naval and army commandos.  Park also apologised for the government's handling of the sinking,  and accepted the final responsibility for not properly dealing with this incident . So does that mean the President should resign for this failure?

Meanwhile Korean Coast Guard is coming out of the shock from this blame game. “All members of the coast guard will humbly accept the intention of the president and the people and continue to push forward with the search until the last remaining victim is found,” Kim Suk Kyoon, Commissioner General of the Coast Guard, said in an e-mailed government release.

It seems a case of wrong diagnosis and prescription by the South Korean President. If she doesn’t give a quick re-think to her decision , the nation and the region will bear the brunt of this rash decision, keeping in mind the dire need of having an active  Coast guard with North Korea and China perpetually flexing their muscles in the waters surrounding South Korea.