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The coast guard is called upon to protect the United States in times of war as well as in peacetime. Although it was officially established in 1915, its roots stretch back to the Revenue Cutter Service of 1790. Since then, the smallest branch of the U.S. military has been keeping American ports and coasts safe. The coast guard's official motto-Semper Paratus-means "always prepared." Coastguardsmen in ports and waterways across the nation are ever vigilant for danger. Informative text and striking images take readers on a journey from the coast guard's earliest days to the hi-tech military force that protects our shores today

The Guantánamo prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged mastermind behind the deadly USS Cole bombing, highlights an unresolved issue in military commissions: whether the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution applies to bar hearsay statements of unavailable witnesses. While al-Nashiri's counsel recently moved for the military judge to take judicial notice that the Confrontation Clause applies, it is worth considering that the question may be framed differently. Rather than ask whether the Confrontation Clause applies in a military commission, we may ask whether a "testimonial statement" - the only kind of hearsay evidence that triggers the Confrontation Clause-is a concept consistent with wartime tribunals. This Article proposes that a testimonial statement is a uniquely civilian concept, situating military commissions outside the scope of the Confrontation Clause. The military commission trying al-Nashiri nonetheless preserves the constitutional value of reliability while offering different procedural protections than are offered in federal courts, such as admitting hearsay statements from witnesses made unavailable by war.