Career
VADM Devany was an officer in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps), one of the nation’s eight uniformed services. He is a graduate of the NOAA Leadership Competencies Development Program and the Harvard Senior Managers in Government program.
As Director, MAOC, RDML Devany was responsible for the safe, efficient and effective operation of the NOAA ship and aircraft fleet. He oversaw NOAA’s multi-purpose oceanographic, fisheries, and hydrographic survey vessels and aircraft that operate across the globe in support of the program requirements of NOAA.
VADM Devany received his commission in the United States Navy via the Navy ROTC in 1986 and has been an officer of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps since January 1990, when he transferred uniformed services. While in the Navy, Devany served as a surface warfare officer aboard the destroyer USS John Young (DD-973) in the Pacific and the Persian Gulf. VADM Devany received a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in biology, and a master's degree from the University of South Florida in environmental health. He was promoted to lieutenant in April 1994, lieutenant commander in September 1999, commander in September 2004, and captain in May 2008. [3] [4] [5] [6]
VADM Devany has served aboard six NOAA ships: NOAAS Chapman (R 446), NOAAS Discoverer (R 102), NOAAS Miller Freeman (R 223), and NOAAS Hi’ialakai (R 334) in various capacities, and as commanding officer of NOAAS Oscar Elton Sette (R 335) and NOAAS John N. Cobb (R 552). These vessels were involved in fisheries and oceanographic research operations in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico. Ashore, VADM Devany has served in a variety of staff, scientific, and management positions in the NOAA line offices National Marine Fisheries Service, Oceans and Atmospheric Research, Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, and National Ocean Service. He has spent a majority of his career working in assignments that directly interfaced with state and other federal agencies, using his project management and consensus building skills to achieve program objectives. VADM Devany has spent the last several years in senior Fleet operational positions, most recently as Commanding Officer, Marine Operations Center – Atlantic. He was promoted to rear admiral (lower half) in June 2011 and appointed Director, Marine and Aviation Operations Centers (MAOC), the operational arm of NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO). [7] He was promoted to rear admiral in February 2012 and assumed command of the NOAA Commissioned Corps in August 2012. He was promoted to vice admiral on 2 January 2014 upon assuming duty as deputy undersecretary for operations, only the second officer to reach this rank in the combined history of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and its predecessors, and the first since H. Arnold Karo in 1965.
VADM Devany has been recognized for his outstanding performance of duties, receiving multiple NOAA Special Achievement Awards and the NOAA Corps Commendation Medals. Additionally, while serving in the U.S. Navy he received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for service in the Persian Gulf. VADM Devany is a NOAA diver, and holds a United States Coast Guard 1,600-gross-ton Master, Oceans license.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a Washington, D.C.–based scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce, a United States federal government department. The agency is charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep sea exploration, and managing fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the U.S. exclusive economic zone.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a scientific agency overseen by the Department of Commerce. The NOAA Corps is made up of scientifically and technically trained officers. The NOAA Corps and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are the only U.S. uniformed services that consist only of commissioned officers, with no enlisted or warrant officer ranks. The NOAA Corps' primary mission is to monitor oceanic conditions, support major waterways, and monitor atmospheric conditions.
The Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which operates a wide variety of specialized ships and aircraft to carry out the environmental and scientific missions of NOAA.
The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) was a United States Federal executive agency created in 1965 as part of a reorganization of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission was to unify and oversee the meteorological, climatological, hydrographic, and geodetic operations of the United States. It operated until 1970, when it was replaced by the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Richard R. Behn, is a retired one-star rear admiral of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps who served as director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine and Aviation Operations Centers, from August 2004 to September 2007. He was nominated for this position by President George W. Bush, confirmed by the Senate, and subsequently promoted to rear admiral in August 2004.
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.
Jonathan W. Bailey is a retired rear admiral in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps and a former Director, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and Director, NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. He was appointed by Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez on October 1, 2007, after nomination for the position by President George W. Bush, confirmation by the U.S. Senate, and subsequent promotion by the Secretary to the two-star rank of rear admiral. On August 15, 2012, Admiral Bailey was succeeded as Director, NOAA Corps by Rear Admiral Michael S. Devany, and formally retired on September 30, 2012.
Evelyn J. Fields is a former officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, who served as the director of the Commissioned Officer Corps and director of NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, from 1999 until her retirement in 2003. Fields was the first woman, and first African American to head the NOAA Corps.
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.
Philip M. Kenul is a retired NOAA Corps rear admiral who last served as the Director, NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations Centers, which are part of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO). As director, Kenul was responsible for the operation of NOAA aircraft and ships as well as the management of OMAO’s operations centers’ $100M budget and more than 500 fleet personnel. Kenul retired from the NOAA Corps after over 30 years of service.
James Allen Zimble was a commissioned officer in the Medical Corps of the United States Navy. His Navy career spanned 35 years of service, beginning in 1956 at the rank of ensign and ending in 1991 at the rank of vice admiral. He served as the 30th Surgeon General of the United States Navy from 1987 to 1991. After retiring from the Navy in 1991, Zimble was appointed President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He remained in that position until 2004.
In the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, captain is the senior-most commissioned officer rank below that of flag officer. The equivalent rank is colonel in the United States Army, Air Force, Space Force, and Marine Corps.
David A. Score is a former rear admiral in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps who last served as Director, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and Director, NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. He retired from the NOAA Corps on September 6, 2017, after over 27 years of service.
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Anita L. Lopez is a former officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps. She last served as the deputy director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and deputy director for Operations of NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. She previously served as the commanding officer of NOAA's Marine Operations Center–Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia from June 2012 to January 2014. Lopez retired form the NOAA Corps on March 1, 2018. Since 2018, she has been serving as the Director of Research Vessel Operations at the University of Hawaii and the Interim Director of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).
The NOAA Administrator's Award is an award of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The award is granted by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere who serves concurrently as the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The award, which may go to an individual or a group, is presented in recognition of significant contributions to NOAA programs. The award is presented to civilian employees of NOAA as a plaque and as a medal set to members of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. Individual recipients of the award receive a monetary award of $5,000. Recipients of group awards split the monetary award evenly. Administrator's Award recipients are formally recognized at an award ceremony held annually.
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Michael J. Silah is a retired rear admiral in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps who served as Director, NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, and Director, NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.
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United States
United States Navy 
NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps 
Vice admiral 
