Allen Reflects on Oil Spill, Piracy, Leadership During SAS Dinner Speech

By JOHN C. MARCARIO, Assistant Editor

Adm. Thad W. Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard, said the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most difficult challenges he has faced in his career.

“We are trying to fight an enemy that is not human, that is not accessible to human beings, and the only information we have is expedited by remotely operated vehicles on the ocean floor,” Allen said during his keynote address at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition Dinner May 4. “We cannot confront our enemy in person.”

On April 20, a semisubmersible offshore drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, exploded and caught fire. It later sank. An estimated 5,000 barrels of oil per day have been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico since that time, and are threatening beaches, fishing grounds and sensitive environmental areas along the Gulf Coast.

Allen said there is no way to interrupt the flow of oil unless BP is able to put a cap on the well, a process that will take at least 90 days. Recent heavy seas and rough weather conditions have delayed those efforts, as well as hampering the cleanup effort.

Noting that the Coast Guard fights a number battles, Allen also address piracy during his speech. Pirate attacks have increased in recent months as monsoon season has ended near the Horn of Africa, where most of the attacks are taking place. The most recent attack occurred the following day (May 5) when a Liberia-flagged oil tanker with 23 Russian crew members aboard was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.

“To attach consequences to their action, we need the power of our Navy and the law enforcement capabilities of the U.S. Coast Guard,” Allen said, though adding that he does not favor putting military security teams on ships because “we cannot be everywhere. To attack piracy, we also need sea partners in the Maritime Administration … we need the U.S.-flag fleet helping us and they shouldn’t be there alone as there should be international standards.”

Allen said something has to be done on a global scale about piracy and he will continue working on the issue even after his uniform changes.

His last day as commandant is May 25, when Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr., former Atlantic Area commander, will take over. Papp was confirmed by Congress April 26. The change of command ceremony will take place in Washington.

Allen poked fun at legislators during his remarks while discussing the National Security Cutter (NSC) fleet. The NSC is the flagship of the Deepwater fleet modernization program. The first NSC, Bertholf, which was commissioned in August 2008, was under tight Congressional scrutiny amid rising costs and design questions during its construction.

“In the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007, I spent time before Congress trying to explain to them that the first NSC would not break in half and sink,” said Allen, who then stood behind a picture of Bertholf onstage. “How do you like us now?”

Allen was presented with the Adm. Arleigh Burke Leadership Award during the dinner and accepted it on behalf of his mother, father and brother.

“I am humbled by the opportunity to be here. I am humbled to be associated with the name Arleigh Burke,” he said.

During Allen's second year at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, his brother died of a heroin overdose. Allen said he stayed in the service because he could not imagine what his or his father's life would be like if he was not in the military.

“Because of that, I call myself an accidental admiral,” Allen said.