Agencies begin ceremonial transfer

WASHINGTON -- The Coast Guard marked its transfer to the Department of Homeland Security Tuesday according to military tradition, with a change-of-watch ceremony replete with color guard, speeches, silent drill team and John Philip Sousa marches.\nThe Coast Guard will formally become about one-fourth of the new department Saturday in the biggest government reorganization since the Department of Defense was created in 1947. The Coast Guard moves from the Department of Transportation, where it's been for 36 years since its transfer from the Treasury Department.\nThe Coast Guard's mission will continue unchanged, though it is taking on added responsibilities for securing ports and in the potential conflict in Iraq. About 1,500 active Coast Guardsmen are being sent to the Persian Gulf, aboard four cutters that have already arrived and seven on their way, according to Cmdr. Jim McPherson.\n"No branch of the military has as much history protecting the homeland as the U.S. Coast Guard," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told about 1,500 Coast Guardsmen inside the D.C. Stadium-Armory.\nSince the Sept. 11 attacks, the Coast Guard has been more involved with national security, through the introduction of a sea marshal program, has created highly trained special maritime safety teams and has assessed potential terrorist threats at U.S. ports.