Commandant of the Coast Guard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Commandant of the Coast Guard is the highest ranking member of the United States Coast Guard. He is the only four-star Admiral of the Coast Guard, and is appointed for a four year term by the President of the United States upon confirmation by the United States Senate. He is assisted by a Vice-Commandant, two Assistant Commandants/Area Commanders and a Chief of Staff, all of whom are three-star Vice Admirals. Unlike the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard Commandant is not a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He reports to the President, under the Secretary of Homeland Security. Prior to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, the Coast Guard Commandant reported to the Secretary of Transportation.
Contents |
[edit] Evolution of the rank and title
The title of Commandant dates to a 1923 act that distributed the commissioned line and engineer officers of the Coast Guard in grades. Before 1923, the rank and title of the head of the Coast Guard was "captain-commandant." The rank "captain-commandant" originated in the Revenue Cutter Service in 1908.[1]
The office that was later to be known as the Commandant of the Coast Guard originated with the Chief of the Revenue Cutter Service (also known as the Revenue Marine Division). The Coast Guard traces the lineage of Commandants back to Captain Leonard G. Shepard,[1] chief of the Revenue Marine Division, even though he never officially received the title of Captain-Commandant.[2] The Captain-Commandant position was created in 1908 when Captain Worth G. Ross was the first to actually hold the position.[3] Although he was retired, Captain Charles F. Shoemaker was elevated to the rank of Captain-Commandant.[4] Captain Shepard had already died and was not elevated to the rank.
[edit] Commandants
United States Coast Guard
- Admiral Thad W. Allen (2006-present)
- Admiral Thomas H. Collins (2002-2006)
- Admiral James Loy (1998-2002)
- Admiral Robert E. Kramek (1994-1998)
- Admiral J. William Kime (1990-1994)
- Admiral Paul A. Yost, Jr. (1986-1990)
- Admiral James S. Gracey (1982-1986)
- Admiral John B. Hayes (1978-1982)
- Admiral Owen W. Siler (1974-1978)
- Admiral Chester R. Bender (1970-1974)
- Admiral Willard J. Smith (1966-1970)
- Admiral Edwin J. Roland (1962-1966)
- Admiral Alfred C. Richmond (1954-1962)
- Vice Admiral Merlin O'Neill (1949-1954)
- Admiral Joseph F. Farley (1946-1949)
- Admiral Russell R. Waesche (1936-1946)
- Rear Admiral Harry G. Hamlet(1932-1936)
- Rear Admiral Frederick C. Billard(1924-1932)
- Rear Admiral William F. Reynolds (1919-1924)
- Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf (1915-1919)[5]
Revenue Cutter Service
- Captain-Commandant Ellsworth P. Bertholf (1911-1915)
- Captain Worth G. Ross (1905-1911)
- Captain Charles F. Shoemaker (1895-1905)
- Captain Leonard G. Shepard (1889-1895)
[edit] References
- ^ a b USCG Fact File -- click History, then Past Commandants
- ^ Who were the Commandants of the Coast Guard?, U.S. Coast Guard Office of Historian FAQs
- ^ Capt. Ross's biography at the U.S. Coast Guard website
- ^ Capt. Shoemaker's biography at the U.S. Coast Guard website
- ^ Bertholf was reappointed Commandant following the merger of the Revenue Cutter Service into the newly formed Coast Guard
