The United States Merchant Marine Academy is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen to serve as officers in the United States Merchant Marine, branches of the United States Armed Forces and the transportation industry. Midshipmen are trained in different fields such as marine engineering, navigation, ship's administration, maritime law, personnel management, international law, customs, and many other subjects important to the task of running a large ship.
The commandant of the Coast Guard is the service chief and highest-ranking member of the United States Coast Guard. The commandant is an admiral, appointed for a four-year term by the president of the United States upon confirmation by the United States Senate. The commandant is assisted by a vice commandant, who is also an admiral, and two area commanders and two deputy commandants, all of whom are vice admirals.
David Peter Pekoske is an American government official and retired U.S. Coast Guard vice admiral who has served as the seventh administrator of the Transportation Security Administration in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since 2017. He served as the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security from April to November 2019 and again from January to June 2021. From January 20, 2021 to February 2, 2021 he served as acting secretary of homeland security, during the Senate confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas. Pekoske retired with 33 years of active military service in 2010 as the 26th vice commandant of the Coast Guard.
Manson K. Brown is an American retired U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral (VADM) and public official. His top military decoration is the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal. In 1994, he became the first recipient of the Coast Guard Captain John G. Witherspoon Award for Inspirational Leadership. In 2012, he was honored with the Golden Torch Award by the National Society for Black Engineers. In 2014, he was honored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People with the Meritorious Service Award, an honor annually bestowed to a service member in a policy-making position for the highest achievement in military equal opportunity. Off duty, he is an active road cyclist.
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.
Robert Theodore Nelson was a vice admiral in the United States Coast Guard who served as the 18th Vice Commandant from 1992 to 1994. He was previously Chief of Staff of the United States Coast Guard, Commanding Officer at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, D.C., Commander of the Second Coast Guard District, and Chief of the Office of Navigation Safety and Waterway Services at Coast Guard Headquarters. He graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1958. He also was an alumnus of George Washington University.
Richard Dennis Herr is a retired vice admiral in the United States Coast Guard who served as the 20th Vice Commandant from 1996 to 1998. He was previously Commander of the Coast Guard Pacific Area and U.S. Maritime Defense Zone Pacific, Resource Director, Comptroller, Coast Guard Chief Financial Officer, Commander of the Eleventh Coast Guard District, Commander of Joint Task Force Five, Commander of Coast Guard Air Station and Commander of Coast Guard Aviation Training Center. He is an alumnus of the United States Coast Guard Academy, Naval Postgraduate School, and National War College.
James Conrad Card is a retired vice admiral in the United States Coast Guard who served as Vice Commandant from 1998 to 2000.
Peter Vance Neffenger is a United States Coast Guard Admiral and public servant who served as Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration from July 2015 to January 20, 2017.
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.
Andrew Joseph Tiongson is a United States Coast Guard vice admiral. Vice Admiral Tiongson has served concurrently as Commander, Pacific Area and Commander, Defense Force West since July 8, 2022. He most recently served as the Director of Operations (J3) at the United States Southern Command and was previously Commander of the Coast Guard First District. In his first flag assignment, he served as the Coast Guard's Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Commandant for Resources.
Nathan A. Moore is a US Coast Guard Rear Admiral and deputy commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area. He previously served as commander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District.
Kevin Eugene Lunday is a United States Coast Guard vice admiral who serves as commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area since May 24, 2022, and director, Homeland Security Joint Task Force – East once the appointment is confirmed. He most recently served as the deputy for materiel readiness to the deputy commandant for mission support of the United States Coast Guard from July 2020 to April 2022. Lunday also previously commanded the Coast Guard Fourteenth District from July 2018 to June 2020, Coast Guard Cyber Command from 2016 to 2018, and served as the director of exercises and training (J7) of United States Cyber Command from 2014 to 2016.
Joanna M. Nunan is a United States Maritime Service vice admiral, and a retired United States Coast Guard rear admiral, who has served as the 14th superintendent of the United States Merchant Marine Academy since December 8, 2022. The first woman to become superintendent of the Academy, her appointment was lauded by secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg and administrator of the United States Maritime Administration Ann C. Phillips.
