Today’s Coast Guard serves as both a maritime law enforcement agency and as one of our nation’s five armed services. It is a complex, multi-mission organization that has evolved through two centuries as various federal agencies merged to combine their roles and resources. The Coast Guard traces its roots to the U.S. Revenue-Marine, established on August 4, 1790 (although one of the agencies that later merged with it was actually established in 1789). This presentation will examine the milestones in the growth of the Coast Guard, the circumstances that brought them about, and their impact on the service’s missions and capabilities.