WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Barack Obama’s pick to lead the Coast Guard has proposed scaling back the agency’s current counterterrorism priorities in favor of running traditional search and rescue operations that save people in imminent danger on the water, and maintaining the maritime transportation system, according to a confidential internal memorandum.

Photo by: U.S. Coast Guard President’s Pick – Coast Guard Commandant nominee Vice Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr. stated in a memo his intent on cutting Coast Guard funding for programs in the agency’s homeland security plan.

An internal November 2009 memo from the nominee for commandant, Vice Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr., said that starting in 2012, he would cut funding for programs in the agency’s homeland security plan, including patrols and training exercises that critics claim duplicate the efforts of other military operations.

The memo, marked “sensitive — for internal Coast Guard use only,” was obtained by the Associated Press.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the memo was a draft of an internal document that was leaked to the public. She said the Coast Guard and the administration do not support cutting the agency’s homeland security mission, and no decision has been made on the agency’s budget or how it will be spent.

Papp’s outline is significant, because it offers major changes for the 220-year-old agency that suddenly took on substantial homeland security duties after Sept. 11, 2001. Obama’s 2011 proposed budget cuts for the Coast Guard have already been criticized by some lawmakers.

In his internal memo, Papp proposed to eliminate counterterrorism strike teams created after Sept. 11 “to fill a perceived void in national counterterrorism response capability.” He explained that other federal agencies are better at this type of mission. “In view of the fiscal horizon, we must make bold and systematic strategic decisions,” Papp wrote in the memo, dated Nov. 10, 2009.

Obama announced his intention to nominate Papp on Dec. 22.

Coast Guard spokesman Ron LaBrec said the memo was written in response to a Coast Guard headquarters request to identify potential areas for budget cuts down the road. LaBrec said it is part of a department-wide review of homeland security missions leading to spending proposals for 2012. But he said the memo does not represent Papp’s own preferences or priorities.

Tom Gavin, spokesman for the administration’s Office of Management and Budget, said the White House is not involved in the internal budget considerations for 2012.

In the memo, Papp also outlined cuts he would make to the number of ships doing daily counternarcotics operations in the Caribbean. Currently, an average of six ships per day carry out that mission, and he proposed cutting the number to 4.5, while keeping the Coast Guard cutters that perform anti-narcotics operations in transit zones to respond to specific intelligence about drug trafficking.

The Coast Guard was transferred from the Transportation Department to the newly created Homeland Security Department in 2003. In times of war, the Coast Guard may be transferred to the Department of the Navy. It has 42,000 men and woman on active duty.

Papp assumed the duties of commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, in July 2008. He serves as the operational commander for all Coast Guard missions within the eastern half of the world — an area ranging from the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf. He also concurrently serves as commander, Defense Force East and provides Coast Guard mission support to the Department of Defense and combat commanders.

A date has not been set for Papp’s Senate nomination hearing.

If confirmed, Papp would replace Adm. Thad W. Allen as commandant of the Coast Guard. Allen, 61, who has served as commandant for the last four years, is scheduled to retire May 26, ending four decades of service in the Coast Guard.