List of United States Coast Guard four-star admirals

Last updated February 12, 2024

This is a complete list of four-star admirals in the United States Coast Guard . The rank of admiral (or full admiral, or four-star admiral) is the highest rank in the U.S. Coast Guard. It ranks above vice admiral (three-star admiral) and below Fleet Admiral (five-star admiral).

There have been 23 four-star admirals in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard. Of these, 22 achieved that rank while on active duty and one was promoted upon retirement in recognition of combat citations. All were commissioned via the United States Coast Guard Academy or its predecessor, the School of Instruction of the United States Revenue Cutter Service. Prior to the Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard being elevated to a four-star position in 2016, all four-star admirals in the U.S. Coast Guard held the position of Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.

List of admirals

The following list of four-star admirals is sortable by last name, date of rank,^[1] number of years on active duty at four-star rank (Yrs),^[2] active-duty positions held while serving at four-star rank,^[3] year commissioned and source of commission,^[4] and number of years in commission when promoted to four-star rank (YC),^[5] and other biographical notes.^[6]

#	Name	Date of rank ^[1]	Position ^[3]	Yrs ^[2]	Commission ^[4]	YC ^[5]	Notes ^[6]
1	waesche Russell R. Waesche	1945-04-044 Apr 1945	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1936–1945.	1	1906 (USRCSSI)^[7]	39	(1886–1946)
2	farley Joseph F. Farley	1946-01-011 Jan 1946	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1946–1949.	4	1912 (USRCSSI)^[7]	34	(1889–1974)
3	richmond Alfred C. Richmond	1960-06-011 Jun 1960	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1960–1962.	2	1924 (USCGA)	36	(1902–1984) Served as Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard from 1954 to 1960 in the rank of vice admiral.
4	roland Edwin J. Roland	1962-06-011 Jun 1962	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1962–1966.	4	1929 (USCGA)	33	(1905–1985)
5	smith Willard J. Smith	1966-06-011 Jun 1966	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1966–1970.	4	1933 (USCGA)	33	(1910–2000) Superintendent, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 1962–1965; U.S. Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Safety and Consumer Affairs, 1970–1971.
6	bender Chester R. Bender	1970-06-011 Jun 1970	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1970–1974.	4	1936 (USCGA)	34	(1914–1996) Superintendent, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 1965–1967.
7	siler Owen W. Siler	1974-06-011 Jun 1974	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1974–1978.	4	1943 (USCGA)	31	(1922–2007)
8	hayes John B. Hayes	1978-06-011 Jun 1978	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1978–1982.	4	1946 (USCGA)	32	(1924–2001)
9	gracey James S. Gracey	1982-05-2828 May 1982	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1982–1986.	4	1949 (USCGA)	33	(1927–2020)
10	yost Paul A. Yost Jr.	1986-05-3030 May 1986	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1986–1990.	4	1951 (USCGA)	35	(1929–2022)
11	kime J. William Kime	1990-05-3131 May 1990	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1990–1994.	4	1957 (USCGA)	33	(1934–2006)
12	kramek Robert E. Kramek	1994-06-011 Jun 1994	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1994–1998.	4	1961 (USCGA)	33	(1939–2016)
13	loy James M. Loy	1998-05-00May 1998	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1998–2002.	4	1964 (USCGA)	34	(1942– ) Administrator, Transportation Security Administration, 2002–2003; U.S. Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, 2003–2005.
14	collins Thomas H. Collins	2002-05-3030 May 2002	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2002–2006.	4	1968 (USCGA)	34	(1946– )
15	allen Thad W. Allen	2006-05-2525 May 2006	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2006–2010. National Incident Commander, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, 2010.	4	1971 (USCGA)	35	(1949– ) Remained on active duty for 36 days after stepping down as commandant while serving as National Incident Commander, Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
16	papp Robert J. Papp	2010-05-2525 May 2010	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2010–2014.	4	1975 (USCGA)	35	(1953– ) U.S. Special Representative for the Arctic, 2014–2017.
17	zunkunft Paul F. Zukunft	2014-05-3030 May 2014	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2014–2018.	4	1977 (USCGA)	37	(1955– )
18	michel Charles D. Michel	2016-05-2424 May 2016	Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2015–2018.	2	1985 (USCGA)	31	(1963– ) Served as Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard from 2015 to 2016 in the rank of vice admiral. First career judge advocate officer to achieve four-star rank in any service.
19	ray Charles W. Ray	2018-05-2424 May 2018	Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2018–2021.	3	1981 (USCGA)	37	(1959– )
20	schultz Karl L. Schultz	2018-06-011 Jun 2018	Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2018–2022.	4	1983 (USCGA)	35	(1961– )
21	fagan Linda L. Fagan	2021-06-1818 Jun 2021	Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2021–2022. Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2022–present.	3	1985 (USCGA)	36	(1963– ) First woman to achieve the rank of admiral in the Coast Guard; first woman to lead an armed service.
22	poulin Steven D. Poulin	2022-05-3131 May 2022	Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, 2022–present.	2	1984 (USCGA)	38	(1962– )

Tombstone admirals

The Act of Congress of March 4, 1925, allowed officers in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard to be promoted one grade upon retirement if they had been specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat. Combat citation promotions were colloquially known as "tombstone promotions" because they conferred the prestige of the higher rank but not the additional retirement pay, so their only practical benefit was to allow recipients to engrave a loftier title on their business cards and tombstones. The Act of Congress of February 23, 1942, enabled tombstone promotions to three- and four-star grades. Tombstone promotions were subsequently restricted to citations issued before January 1, 1947, and finally eliminated altogether effective November 1, 1959.

Any admiral who actually served in a grade while on active duty receives precedence on the retired list over any tombstone admiral holding the same retired grade. Tombstone admirals rank among each other according to the dates of their highest active duty grade.

The following list of tombstone admirals is sortable by last name, date of rank as vice admiral, date retired, and year commissioned.

	Name	Photo	Date of rank (VADM)	Date retired (ADM)	Commission ^[4]	Notes
1	oneill Merlin O'Neill ^[8]		1950-01-011 Jan 1950	1954-06-011 Jun 1954	1921 (USCGA)	(1898–1981) Commandant of the Coast Guard, 1949–1954.

Timeline

The first full admiral in the United States Coast Guard was Russell R. Waesche, who served as commandant from 1936 to 1945 and was promoted to that rank on April 4, 1945. His successor as commandant, John Farley, also inherited the rank of admiral. After Farley retired on December 31, 1949, the commandant's rank was reduced to vice admiral, although Farley's successor, Merlin O'Neill, was promoted to full admiral upon retirement in recognition of combat citations. O'Neill's successor, Alfred C. Richmond, remained a vice admiral until the commandant's rank was again elevated to admiral on June 1, 1960, where it has remained ever since.^[9]

List of United States Coast Guard four-star admirals

Notes

1 2 Dates of rank are taken, where available, from the officer's official biography (U.S. Coast Guard, Commandants of the U.S. Coast Guard).
1 2 The number of years on active duty at four-star rank is approximated by subtracting the year in the "Date of rank" column from the last year in the "Position" column.
1 2 Positions listed are those held by the officer when promoted to admiral. Dates listed are for the officer's full tenure, which may predate promotion to four-star rank or postdate retirement from active duty.
1 2 3 Sources of commission are listed in parentheses after the year of commission, and include the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) and the United States Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction (USRCSSI).
1 2 The number of years in commission before being promoted to four-star rank is approximated by subtracting the year in the "Commission" column from the year in the "Date of rank" column.
1 2 Notes include years of birth and death; awards of the Medal of Honor, Congressional Gold Medal, Presidential Medal of Freedom, or honors of similar significance; major government appointments; university presidencies or equivalents; familial relationships with other four-star officers or significant government officials such as U.S. Presidents, cabinet secretaries, U.S. Senators, or state governors; and unusual career events such as premature relief or death in office.
1 2 Graduated from the Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction, which became the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1915.
↑ "Merlin O'Neill, USCG". www.uscg.mil. Archived from the original on 2008-09-22.
↑ U.S. Coast Guard, Commandants of the U.S. Coast Guard

Related Research Articles

In the United States Navy, officers have various ranks. Equivalency between services is by pay grade. United States Navy commissioned officer ranks have two distinct sets of rank insignia: On dress uniform a series of stripes similar to Commonwealth naval ranks are worn; on service khaki, working uniforms, and special uniform situations, the rank insignia are identical to the equivalent rank in the US Marine Corps.

Merlin O'Neill served as the tenth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from 1 January 1950 to 1 June 1954.

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.

In the United States military, a general is the most senior general-grade officer; it is the highest achievable commissioned officer rank that may be attained in the United States Armed Forces, with exception of the Navy and Coast Guard, which have the equivalent rank of admiral instead. The official and formal insignia of "general" is defined by its four stars.

A tombstone promotion is an advance in rank awarded at retirement. It is often an honorary promotion that does not include any corresponding increase in retired pay, whose only benefit is the right to be addressed by the higher rank and have it engraved on one's tombstone.

A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only to an officer of two-star rank.

Vice admiral is a three-star commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, with the pay grade of O-9. Vice admiral ranks above rear admiral and below admiral. Vice admiral is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant general in the other uniformed services.

References

United States Coast Guard, Commandants of the U.S. Coast Guard & Chiefs of the Revenue Marine Division

"Generals' Exodus", TIME Magazine, September 7, 1959, archived from the original on October 28, 2007

v t e United States Coast Guard
Category:United States Coast Guard
Leadership	Secretary of Homeland Security Commandant of the Coast Guard Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard
Organization	Missions Reserve Intelligence Investigative Service Legal Division Police Areas Districts Sectors Stations Air Stations Radio stations Shipbuilding Yard National Ice Center Research and Development Center Coast Guard Auxiliary
Personnel and training	Personnel Officer ranks Enlisted ranks Ratings Coast Guard Academy Training Center Cape May Training Center Petaluma Training Center Yorktown Maritime Law Enforcement Academy Joint Maritime Training Center Aviation Association Chaplain of the Coast Guard Four-star admirals Three-star admirals
Uniforms and equipment	Uniforms Awards Badges Cutters List of cutters Ship commissioning Ship decommissioning Equipment
History and traditions	History Coast Guard Act Coast Guard City Life-Saving Service Revenue Cutter Service Lighthouse Service Steamboat Inspection Service Bureau of Navigation "Semper Paratus" Flag Ensign Racing Stripe United States Coast Guard Band United States Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard United States Coast Guard Pipe Band Fleet Week Coast Guard service numbers Coast Guardsman's Creed United States Coast Guard Cutters Coast Guard Bears SPARS
Battles and operations	Quasi-War War of 1812 West Indies anti-piracy operations Capture of the schooner Bravo Ingham Incident Amistad Incident Great Lakes Patrol Mexican–American War American Civil War Battle of Fort Sumter Battle of Pig Point Battle of Galveston Harbor Battle of Portland Harbor Overland Relief Expedition Spanish–American War Battle of Manila Bay Battle of Cárdenas Ice Patrol World War I 1st Battle of the Atlantic Great Mississippi Flood Rum Patrol World War II 2nd Battle of the Atlantic Battle of Guam Operation Overlord Korean War Vietnam War Coast Guard Squadron One Operation Market Time Operation Sealords Action of 1 March 1968 Persian Gulf War War on terror Afghanistan War Iraq War Operation Enduring Freedom HOA