Security Levels
PACIFIC AREA
Alameda, California
Area Command Staff
Pacific Area Overview
The California Gold rush brought a large influx of people west and with it came abandoned ships, smugglers, and general lawlessness in the seaport villages and cities along the west coast of the United States.
The Revenue Cutter Lawrence was dispatched as the federal government's representative and made San Francisco its homeport in 1848 beginning the Coast Guard's presence in the Pacific. Lawrence and its crew arrived on the coast and began their assignment as: judge, customs agent, and whatever else was necessary to maintain order during the chaotic period.
Today the Coast Guard's Pacific Area headquarters for operations is not run from the deck of a cutter but from Coast Guard Island in Alameda, California, just east across the bay from San Francisco.
The area of responsibility of PACAREA is 74 million square miles ranging from South America, north to the Arctic Circle and west to the Far East.
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