Admiral is a four-star commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below fleet admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health Service do not have an established grade above admiral. Admiral is equivalent to the rank of general in the other uniformed services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps has never had an officer hold the grade of admiral. However, 37 U.S.C. § 201 of the U.S. Code established the grade for the NOAA Corps, in case a position is created that merits the four-star grade.
Thad William Allen is a former admiral of the United States Coast Guard who served as the 23rd commandant from 2006 to 2010. Allen is best known for his performance directing the federal response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast region from September 2005 to January 2006, and for his role as National Incident Commander of the Unified Command for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Robert J. Papp Jr. succeeded him as Commandant on 25 May 2010.
Vice Admiral John P. Currier was the 28th Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard. He assumed the position from Vice Admiral Sally Brice-O'Hara on May 18, 2012 and was relieved on May 20, 2014 by Vice Admiral Peter Neffenger.
This article covers the organization of the United States Coast Guard.
Paul Frederick Zukunft is a retired admiral of the United States Coast Guard who served as the 25th commandant. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Commandant, with the rank of admiral, in May 2014 and relieved Robert J. Papp Jr. as commandant on 30 May 2014. Prior to his selection as Commandant, he served as Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area. In this position, Zukunft was the operational commander for all U.S. Coast Guard missions within the half of the world that ranges from the Rocky Mountains to the waters off the East Coast of Africa. He concurrently served as Commander, Defense Force West and provided U.S. Coast Guard mission support to the U.S. Department of Defense and Combatant Commanders.
The vice commandant of the Coast Guard serves as the second-in-command of the United States Coast Guard, behind only the commandant of the Coast Guard.
Benedict Louis Stabile was a vice admiral in the United States Coast Guard who served as Vice Commandant from 1982 to 1986. He was married to Barbara Adele Thompson and has four children. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1950. He later also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, attaining a degree in Naval Engineering. Stabile also served at one point as Chief of Coast Guard Engineering. Upon his retirement from the Coast Guard in 1986, he served as the president of the Webb Institute until 1990. On July 28, 2014, Stabile died at the age of 86.
James Clarence Irwin was a vice admiral in the United States Coast Guard who served as Vice Commandant from 1986 to 1988. He had been commander of the 5th Coast Guard District and Chief of the Office of Reserve at Headquarters, Coast Guard. After his term as vice commandant, he served as Commander, Joint Task Force FOUR and Coast Guard Atlantic Area and U.S. Maritime Defense Zone Atlantic.
Martin Haynes Daniell, Jr. is a retired vice admiral in the United States Coast Guard who served as vice commandant from 1990 to 1992. He is the son of Martin H. and Winifred Daniell. Prior to serving as vice commandant, he was commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District. During that time he also headed a drug task force in Southern Florida and in the Southeast Region of the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System. He had also been stationed at the Coast Guard headquarters, where he was chief, operational law enforcement division; deputy chief, office of operations; deputy chief of staff of the Coast Guard; and chief of the office of navigation. Daniell received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Dartmouth College, Hanover, Hew Hampshire, in 1957 and earned Master of Science degree in management from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. Daniell was born in Ensenada, Guanica, Puerto Rico. He is married to Carolyn Betancourt and has three children.
Karl Leo Schultz is a retired United States Coast Guard admiral who served as the 26th Commandant of the Coast Guard from 2018 to 2022.
Charles W. Ray is a retired United States Coast Guard admiral who served as the vice commandant of the Coast Guard from May 24, 2018 to June 18, 2021. He previously served as the Coast Guard's deputy commandant for operations.
Linda Lee Fagan is a United States Coast Guard admiral who serves as the 27th Commandant of the Coast Guard. Previously, in 2021 she became the 32nd Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Coast Guard’s first female four-star admiral. Before that, she was the commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area with prior terms as Coast Guard Deputy for Operations, Policy, and Capabilities, commander, First Coast Guard District, and commander, Coast Guard Sector New York. Fagan is also the Coast Guard's first Gold Ancient Trident, the officer with the longest service record in the Marine Safety Field. In April 2021, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced her nomination as the next Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, succeeding Charles W. Ray. She was confirmed on June 17, 2021, and assumed office on June 18.
Michael F. McAllister is a retired United States Coast Guard vice admiral who last served as commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area and Defense Force West from June 30, 2021 to July 8, 2022. He most recently served as Deputy Commandant for Mission Support and, prior to that, as commander of the Coast Guard Seventeenth District.
Steven D. Poulin is a retired United States Coast Guard admiral who served as the 33rd Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard from 2022 to 2024. He most recently served as commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area and Coast Guard Defense Force East from 2020 to 2022. As Atlantic Area commander, he had operational control over Coast Guard missions covering the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf, covering 5 Coast Guard districts and 40 states. He previously served as director of operations for the United States Southern Command, commander of the Coast Guard First District, and Judge Advocate General and Chief Counsel of the Coast Guard.
Nathan A. Moore is a United States Coast Guard vice admiral and commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area. He previously served as deputy commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area and as commander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District.
Peter Williams Gautier is a United States Coast Guard vice admiral who serves as the deputy commandant for operations. He previously served as the deputy commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area.
