America 1919

Although Donnie is prepared to thoroughly unlock the complexity of the U.S. military, given the current complexity of the U.S. military, it's simply impossible to unlock it all at once, even though the current United States Army Chief of Staff, Charles Somerville, is a member of the Tarot Society.

John Hines had officially stepped down from his position as United States Army Chief of Staff in 1926, and Charles Somerville took over the position.

Since it can't be unlocked all at once, it can only be tackled piece by piece.

So today Donnie is at the seaside estate in Atlantic City, which is the same estate where Robert and others previously gathered, and Donnie has officially named it Estate No. 5!

Donnie hosted a banquet at Estate No. 5 for the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Commander Samuel Spencer.

The Coast Guard may seem like a military force, but in reality, the Coast Guard belongs to the U.S. Treasury Department. During World War I, it temporarily fell under the United States Navy, but after the war, it returned to the Treasury Department!

This is also why the first U.S. Treasurer, Alexander Hamilton, is called the father of the Coast Guard.

In its early days, the Coast Guard consisted of five different departments. One was the Lighthouse Service established in 1789, responsible for maintaining, managing, and building lighthouses, beacons, buoys, public piers, etc.

And frustratingly, in the first 50 years after its formation, it didn't have a single ship.

The Customs Patrol Bureau was established in 1790, and the United States has always been very proactive about taxation, so at its founding, the Customs Patrol Bureau had 10 ships. However, by 1849, the bureau was disbanded, and tax collection responsibilities were handed over to the Navy. The Treasury Department would surely not allow this to happen, so by 1869, after some negotiation, the Emergency Patrol Boat Bureau was re-established to do the same work as the Customs Patrol Bureau.

The Steamboat Inspection Service was established in 1838, initially under the Department of Justice, due to a series of frequent steamship boiler explosion incidents in the early days.

Especially the 1837 explosion of the "Pulaski" paddle steamer, which resulted in over 100 deaths and disappearances, prompting Congress to pass an inspection act for better safety assurance for passengers on steam-powered vessels.

And thus, the Steamboat Inspection Bureau was established.

In 1852, under the "Steamboat Act," it was transferred to the Treasury Department, and in 1903 it was moved to the Department of Commerce and Labor.

After the Department of Commerce and Labor was split into the Commerce and Labor Departments in 1913, it was transferred back to the Commerce Department, with its main duties being the regulation, inspection, licensing review, and issuance for steamboats.

The Bureau of Navigation was established in 1884, initially under the Treasury Department. It was transferred alongside the Steamboat Inspection Bureau to the Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903. Its responsibilities included overseeing and enforcing laws related to merchant ship construction, operation, inspection, and safety, investigating maritime accidents, collecting tonnage taxes, and other shipping fees, reviewing and certifying the professional qualifications of merchant ship crew members, etc.

The Life-Saving Service was established in 1831 by order of the Treasurer, who ordered the revenue cutter "Gallatin" to patrol the coast to rescue shipwreck victims.

This was the first time a federal government agency was given a search and rescue mission, and in 1837, Congress authorized the President to order government ships to provide aid in shipwrecks.

After National Congress Member William A. Newell witnessed the sinking of the Austrian brig "Trusty" and the loss of 13 lives, he facilitated the creation of a federally funded life-saving institution. The Newell Act was enacted on August 14, 1848, representing the federal government's formal involvement in life-saving affairs.

Under this act, the federal government allocated 10,000 US Dollars to establish the first lifesaving station in New Jersey.

From this period, it can be seen that the early Coast Guard was controlled separately by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce and Labor, due to the existence of multiple bureaus at the time.

This situation lasted until 1915, when Congress passed the "Formation of Coast Guard" act, which brought about a change. At that time, the Life-Saving Service and the Emergency Patrol Boat Bureau were the first to merge into the Coast Guard.

The law stipulated that "the Coast Guard is an armed force at all times and shall transfer to the United States Navy for service when needed."

This is also why, during World War I, the Coast Guard was transferred to the Navy.

If everything follows the original timeline, by 1932, the Steamboat Inspection Bureau and the Bureau of Navigation would merge into the [Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation], still under the Commerce Department; in 1936, the [Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation] was renamed to the [Maritime Inspection and Navigation Bureau], under the Commerce Department; on July 1, 1939, the Lighthouse Service was transferred to the Coast Guard.

During this period, the main duty of the Coast Guard was to prevent alcohol from being smuggled into the United States via sea. After 1924, the Navy also transferred many retired destroyers to the Coast Guard, totaling 31 destroyers serving in the Coast Guard's destroyer forces.

As the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Commander, Samuels Spencer was responsible for the 1st District, 5th District, 7th District, 8th District, and 9th District.

So this time Donnie also invited Kevin Leonard, the First District Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard, and Jeremy Malik, the Fifth District Commander.

The First District oversees New England, the eastern region of New York State, and the northern region of New Jersey, but the headquarters of the First District are located in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Fifth District is responsible for the regions of Pennsylvania, the southern region of New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina. The headquarters of the Fifth District are located in Portsmouth, Virginia.