Coast Guard surges 1,000 people to secure July 4 celebrations

The Coast Guard will surge more than 1,000 additional people and 79 boats to 13 cities for July 4 security, with Adm. Kevin Lunday calling the mission one of the most “complex” the service has undertaken. The buildup comes as Washington prepares for a larger-than-normal fireworks display tied to the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.

In Washington, the National Mall fireworks and Salute to America celebration have been designated a National Special Security Event by the Department of Homeland Security. District officials expect hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors over several days of festivities, and they are urging people to plan ahead, use public transportation and sign up for alerts. Security magnetometers for the National Mall will open at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 4, 2026, and the fireworks are scheduled to begin around 10:30 p.m.

For the first time, a large swath of the Potomac around the D.C. monuments will be closed to boaters to make room for the expanded display. A Coast Guard advisory closes the Potomac from the Key Bridge to 200 yards south of the 14th Street Bridge from the morning of July 2 to the morning of July 5. The Anacostia River will be closed to all vessels from the 11th Street Bridge to 200 yards south of the Frederick Douglass Bridge from 6 p.m. to midnight on July 4. Commercial ferries and dinner cruises will be allowed only during some periods, not during the morning of July 3 and from noon to midnight on July 4.

From July 3 through July 5, Coast Guard crews will step up law-enforcement patrols as part of Operation Dry Water, the annual campaign coordinated by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators to enforce boating-under-the-influence laws and promote sober boating. Alcohol remains the leading known contributing factor in recreational boating fatalities. Since the campaign began in 2009, it has removed nearly 8,000 impaired operators from U.S. waterways and reached more than 3.3 million boaters through outreach.

The D.C. operation also includes counter-drone teams, cyber operations teams, aircraft and planning and intelligence coordination. The service is also working with NORAD after a recent exercise in which a small private plane crossed into restricted airspace around the capital.