“Our focus is on maintaining certain critical missions, and within the Coast Guard, the civilian members are absolutely critical to supporting those missions. That sort of exemplifies that point, that the commandant does not plan to furlough civilian workers because that’s just how important they are to what we do.”

Civilians are employed in administrative, technical and maintenance positions.                                       

The operating budget for Ohio’s Coast Guard is more than $60 million. Nearly half of that is spent on contracts for fuel, maintenance, food and other supplies.

Rhynard says, despite possible cuts, the Coast Guard will preserve its core mission of water rescue, keeping shipping lanes open, and drug interdiction.