TASK FORCE

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1944

Format: 16mm

Description: 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.

Complete Record: