NEW LONDON, CT — The U.S. Coast Guard Band announced that it would be forced to cancel its tour of the Southeast from March 6-15 due to budget reductions stipulated by the federal budget sequestration that went into effect March 1. The band had shows scheduled in Clearwater, Tampa and Bradenton, FL; Valdosta, GA; Mobile, and Tuscaloosa, AL; Germantown, TN and Oxford, MS.
More details from the U.S. Coast Guard Office of Public Affairs (www.uscg.mil/band/news.asp):
“We deeply regret that the Coast Guard has cancelled the US Coast Guard Band’s tour of the South, to have occurred March 6-15, 2013. It was not an easy decision. We further regret that the tour was cancelled so close to its start. The final decision was delayed until today (March 1) under the hope that the sequester might have been avoided.
“The budget reductions required under sequestration will have impacts across all Coast Guard mission areas. In this difficult budget climate the service’s primary objective is to preserve our ability to meet the highest-priority mission activities, including search and rescue, critical security operations, and emergency response.”
