You know, when I first joined the CG Band, it was just a way to get a military job in a band. (But in fairness to me, I was exceptionally stupid about life at the time!) The longer I was in, the more I began to understand what the Coast Guard did and the more proud I became to represent them. For such a small service, they have a truly big job. (During one tour we stayed at a Navy Base for a night - that one base had more personnel than the entire Coast Guard.) The following numbers are the most recent ones I found, and such facts were used as part of "The Story of the Coast Guard" - a narrated composition by the former band director.
On an average day, the Coast Guard...
- Saves 10 lives
- Saves $200,000 in property
- Conduct 4 high-risk boardings of suspected dangerous vessels
- Performs 70 container inspections
- Conducts 134 recreational vessel boardings (enforcement of regulations)
- Conducts 16 fisheries conservation boardings/enforcements
- Screens 1,194 vessels and 81,000 passengers
- Performs 396 small boat missions
- Performs 164 aircraft missions
And more. The Coast Guard is 1/4 the size of the next smallest armed service (Marines), and is the only military service that can enforce laws during peacetime.
I just made a little video for the celebration. I play the melody of Semper Paratus (CG marching song), then the part the euphoniums actually had, which combines some melody and some counter melody. During the ending "slide show" I mixed the 2 part together!
https://youtu.be/FHqII3VVEcs