Released in 1944 by Warner Brothers in cooperation with the U.S. Coast
Guard, "Task Force" is a Technicolor short film narrated by Jackson
Beck. The film focuses around Coast Guard "Task Force" duty. Besides
operational glimpses, the viewer is treated to a snapshot of the life of
a Coast Guardsman on and off duty. While the film contains much
documentary-style footage, some sections of the film are re-enactments
and the scenario presented (in which the USCG battles a German U-boat
and then lands troops on a Pacific Island) seems somewhat fanciful.
A review of the film when it was released stated that the movie
"acquaints the public with the very important role being played by the
fourth of Uncle Sam's services. It is the story of an American invasion
fleet going into action on an unnamed battle front. The first attack
comes after the Coast Guard cutters have sighted the enemy. All hands
are ordered to battle stations. The U-boats position is fixed, depth
bombs are loosened, and the submarine surfaces, the big guns go into
action and the U-boat sinks. Later the Navy sends out reconnaissance
planes to meet twenty on-coming enemy aircraft. Now the ack-ack of the
cutter roars defiance. The destination is reached and the Navy's big
guns shell the enemy's fortifications through the day and through the
night. Then comes the landing of the troops…"
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States
Armed Forces and one of the country's seven uniformed services. The
Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among
the U.S. military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission
(with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters) and a
federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set. It
operates under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security during
peacetime, and can be transferred to the U.S. Department of the Navy by
the U.S. President at any time, or by the U.S. Congress during times of
war. To date, this has happened twice, in 1917 and 1941, during World
War I and World War II, respectively
Created by Congress on 4 August 1790 at the request of Alexander
Hamilton as the "Revenue Marine", it is the oldest continuous seagoing
service of the United States.[Note 2] As Secretary of the Treasury,
Hamilton headed the Revenue Marine, whose original purpose was that of a
collector of customs duties in the nation's seaports. By the 1860s the
service was known as the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service and the term
Revenue Marine gradually fell into disuse.
The modern Coast Guard was formed from the merger of the Revenue Cutter
Service and the U.S. Life-Saving Service on 28 January 1915, as an
organization under the U.S. Department of the Treasury. As one of the
country's five armed services, the Coast Guard has been involved in
every U.S. war from 1790 up to the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan.
As of 2012 the Coast Guard had approximately 42,000 men and women on
active duty, 7,900 reservists, 32,000 auxiliarists, and 8,700 full-time
civilian employees. In terms of size, the U.S. Coast Guard by itself is
the world's 12th largest naval force.
Jackson Beck (July 23, 1912 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor best
known as the announcer on radio's The Adventures of Superman and the
voice of Bluto in the Famous era Popeye theatrical shorts.
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