| Chaplain of the United States Coast Guard | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1983 |
| Website | Official Website |
The Chaplain of the United States Coast Guard (COCG) is the senior chaplain of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and is attached to USCG headquarters in Washington, D.C. as a United States Navy Chaplain Corps officer who reports directly to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The current Chaplain of the Coast Guard is Captain Jennifer Bowden. [1]
The Chaplain of the Coast Guard serves as the Commandant's senior advisor on matters pertaining to chaplains and the free exercise of religion as enshrined in First Amendment to the United States Constitution as exercised by USCG personnel and their eligible family members. Chaplains provide religious ministry, advocate for and promote the well-being of USCG personnel, and serve as command liaison officers to civilian religious leaders, communities, organizations and agencies. The duties of the office are described in the Commandant's Religious Ministries in the Coast Guard instruction. [2]
The USCG does not have an organic chaplain corps; chaplains from the United States Navy Chaplain Corps are assigned to the USCG to serve in USCG billets. [3] Traditionally, documents such as the USCG Chaplains Orientation Manual provided guidance for Navy chaplains assigned to USCG duties. [4] Chaplains are clergy who hail from many different faiths and denominations and may be ordained or appointed as ministers, priests, imams, and rabbis by their denomination.
| Name | Photo | Term began | Term ended | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | CAPT Eddy B. Moran | 1983 | 1986 | |
| 2. | CAPT Richard A. Plishker | 1986 | 1989 | |
| 3. | CAPT James G. Goode | 1989 | 1992 | |
| 4. | CAPT Thomas K. Chadwick | 1992 | 1995 | |
| 5. | CAPT Skip Blancett | 1995 | 1998 | |
| 6. | CAPT Leroy Gilbert |  | 1998 | 2002 |
| 7. | CAPT Wilbur C. Douglass, III |  | 2002 | 2006 |
| 8. | CAPT William F. Cuddy Jr. |  | 2006 | 2010 |
| 9. | CAPT Gary P. Weeden |  | June 11, 2010 | March 2014 |
| 10. | CAPT Gregory N. Todd |  | June 23, 2014 | April 12, 2018 |
| 11. | CAPT Thomas J. Walcott |  | April 12, 2018 | April 20, 2022 |
| 12. | CAPT Daniel L. Mode |  | April 20, 2022 | April 24, 2024 |
| 13. | CAPT Jennifer Bowden |  | July 2024 | Incumbent |
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the United States 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 duties. It is the largest coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies.
The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed, non-military volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard. Congress established the unit on 23 June 1939, as the United States Coast Guard Reserve. On February 19, 1941, the entity was renamed the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Auxiliary's purpose is to bolster all USCG undertakings both at sea and in the sky, with the exception of tasks necessitating "direct" law enforcement or military actions. As of 2022, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary boasted around 21,000 members.
The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Assistant Commandant for Reserve (CG-R).
The Flight Surgeon Badge is a military badge of the United States Armed Forces which has existed to designate Flight Surgeons since the Second World War.
The United States Navy Chaplain Corps is the body of military chaplains of the United States Navy who are commissioned naval officers. Their principal purpose is "to promote the spiritual, religious, moral, and personal well-being of the members of the Department of the Navy," which includes the Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Additionally, the Chaplain Corps provides chaplains to the United States Coast Guard.
In the United States Armed Forces, a line officer or officer of the line is a U.S. Navy or U.S. Marine Corps commissioned officer or warrant officer who exercises general command authority and is eligible for operational command positions, as opposed to officers who normally exercise command authority only within a Navy Staff Corps. The term line officer is also used by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard to indicate that an officer is eligible for command of operational, viz., tactical or combat units. The term is not generally used by officers of the U.S. Army – the roughly corresponding Army terms are basic branch and special branch qualified officers, although the concepts are not entirely synonymous, as some Army special branch officers are eligible to hold command outside their branch specialty.
This article covers the organization of the United States Coast Guard.
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Religious Program Specialist (RP) is a designated rating within the United States Navy. As an essential member of Professional Naval Chaplaincy, RPs fulfill a crucial function in administering religious ministry within the Department of the Navy (DON). Together with chaplains, they form the Religious Ministry Team (RMT). In this capacity, RPs actively support the provision and facilitation of Religious Ministry, offering assistance and care to Navy and Marine Corps personnel, as well as their families, irrespective of their backgrounds and faith affiliations. Despite working in a religiously diverse environment, RPs are not mandated to hold religious beliefs nor perform pastoral counseling for the service members under their care. Due to the mobile nature of the units they may be assigned to, RPs can be stationed on Navy ships, at various Navy and Marine Corps commands, navy construction battalions, and other unique combatant units-rendering them globally deployable.
United States Coast Guard officer rank insignia describes an officer's pay-grade. Rank is displayed on collar devices, shoulder boards, and on the sleeves of dress uniforms.
The structure of the United States Navy consists of four main bodies: the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the operating forces, and the Shore Establishment.
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Margaret Grun Kibben is an American Presbyterian minister who is the chaplain of the United States House of Representatives. She served as the 26th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy from 2014 to 2018; she was formerly the 18th Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps (CHMC) and the Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy from 2010 to 2014. Kibben was the first woman to hold each of these positions.
The Chaplain of the United States Marine Corps (CHMC) is a position always filled by the officers serving as Deputy Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy as a "dual hatted" billet since 2000. The CHMC oversees religious ministry in the Marine Corps which one Commandant of the Marine Corps defined as "a vital function which enhances the personal, family, and community readiness of our Marines, sailors, and their families. Chaplaincy supports the foundational principle of free exercise of religion and helps to enrich the spiritual, moral and ethical fabric of the military."
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