Billions in Funding Helps Coast Guard Rapidly Implement Force Design 2028 Modernization Efforts

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Coast Guard has spent close to $7.7 billion of the nearly $25 billion awarded to it by the Trump administration in July, investing in new hardware, infrastructure and personnel to support the largest overhaul of the service since World War II.

The service released an update Thursday on its modernization vision known as Force Design 2028, the effort to overhaul the Coast Guard to improve its military and homeland security capabilities, and how the $25 billion investment is being put to use with plans to obligate the remaining funds by January 2027.

“That money is taxpayer dollars, and those taxpayers expect us to use that money to invest it for the American public,” Sean Plankey, senior adviser to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, said Wednesday during a keynote address at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium ahead of the service’s announcement.

The Coast Guard’s $25 billion investment — its biggest-ever single allocation — and Force Design 2028 reforms are already paying dividends in terms of operations, recruitment and innovation, Plankey said. The cost of doing business, he added, does not stay stagnant, and the service cannot transform by sitting on the funding while it explores requirements.

In the past five weeks, the Coast Guard and Defense Department forces have seized six “dark fleet” tankers in the North Atlantic and Caribbean as part of the Trump administration’s quarantine on sanctioned vessels transporting Venezuelan oil.

Additionally, in the past year, the Coast Guard has been actively engaged in border operations, intercepting more than 11,000 migrants and interdicting 511,000 pounds of cocaine – increases of 160 percent and 200 percent, respectively, over last year – Plankey said. The service did so while clearing 13 percent more cargo into the U.S. than previous years, and its rescue crews helped roughly the same number of people as 2024, he added.

“It’s been an amazing and historical year for the Coast Guard,” Plankey said. “We are leading in our service in protecting our hemisphere and pushing our adversaries out.”

Newly sworn in Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday was slated to speak Wednesday at the Surface Naval Symposium but canceled. Instead, the service released a 180-day update on Force Design 2028 via the Coast Guard’s official website Thursday. In the announcement, Lunday said the biggest challenge the service faced in previous years was workforce shortages. With the new operational demands, he said, the Coast Guard must grow by more than 15,000 members by Jan. 1, 2029.

The service opened seven new recruiting offices in the last year, ushering in the Coast Guard’s highest recruitment year since 1991. The service brought in 5,204 new active-duty members and 777 reservists – respectively, 121 percent and 104 percent of its active duty and reserve goals.

The service also implemented a new organizational structure that affected 68 percent of its headquarters staff, eliminating 14 flag officer positions and creating program executive offices to support acquisition processes under the plan.

“We are actively exploring options to further expand our accession and training capacity as we work toward the ambitious goal of growing our workforce by more than 15,000 members. This investment in our people is essential to our future success,” Lunday said in the update.

Under Force Design 2028, the Coast Guard’s 11 statutory missions were divided into three overarching categories: border security, commerce facilitation and contingency response.

In restructuring its headquarters staff, the service created several positions to better manage personnel and acquisitions, including the creation of a chief of staff role and deputy commandants for systems and personnel. It also sought legislative approval for a Coast Guard secretary position, although that effort has not yet been approved by Congress.

Force Design 2028 also created a Rapid Response Prototype (RAPTOR) team to manage the Coast Guard’s use of technology, along with a Robotics and Autonomous Systems Program Executive Office to bolster the service’s unmanned systems capabilities. Additionally, it has made significant efforts to build and acquire military assets, including boats, cutters, aircraft and autonomous systems, as well as to purchase commercially available hardware.

According to the report, funding has gone to support additional Arctic Security Cutters, 10 additional Fast Response Cutters, more Offshore Patrol Cutters, Polar Security Cutters and three Waterways Commerce Cutters.

The service has purchased two long-range command and control aircraft, invested in new hangars in Hawaii and six new HC-130J long range surveillance aircraft. A total of $150 million was allocated for new counter-unmanned aerial systems to provide protection during large events, like the semi quincentennial celebrations and the World Cup in the United States this year.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Phil Waldron said Wednesday at the Surface Navy Association symposium that the force welcomes the financial investment in its forces and is working to address quality-of-life concerns to improve recruitment and maintain personnel.

“All the things – the medical, the childcare, the housing, the spousal support programs – those are the things that make life of service a little bit different than any other civilian job. I think the further we get down the road and get better at all of those things, every bit of that is going to make a difference when it comes to retention,” Waldron said.

Lunday was sworn in Thursday as the service’s 28th commandant. Lunday served as acting commandant since January 2025 when his predecessor Adm. Linda Fagan was fired by President Donald Trump. During the ceremony, he said Force Design 2028 will position the Coast Guard to become a “more agile, capable and responsive fighting force.”

According to the report, Coast Guard operations in 2025 yielded a six-fold return on investment, with $974 million in property saved or seized, millions worth of drugs removed from the streets and 1.8 billion tons of cargo moved securely through U.S. waters.

Force Design 2028 looks to build upon that success and support the service’s mission set without sacrificing any of its missions, Lunday pledged.

“Coast Guard men and women are our greatest treasure, and we will lead and inspire our crews to get the mission done while taking the very best care of them,” Lunday said during his first speech as commandant.