Organization of the United States Coast Guard
This article covers the organization of the United States Coast Guard.
The headquarters of the Coast Guard is located at 2703 Martin Luther King Jr Avenue SE in Washington, D.C.. The Coast Guard relocated to the grounds of the former St. Elizabeths Hospital in 2013.
Flag officershttp://www.uscg.mil/flag/ Flag Officer & Senior Executive Service Member Bios.
Admiral
The Commandant of the Coast Guard is the Coast Guard's most senior officer, who, by law, holds the rank of admiral. The commandant is selected for a four-year term, which may be renewed for additional four-year periods. The current incumbent is Admiral Karl L. Schultz, who replaced Admiral Paul F. Zukunft on June 1, 2018.The Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard is Admiral Charles W. Ray, who replaced Admiral Charles D. Michel on May 24, 2018.
Vice admiral
The Commander, Atlantic Area is Vice Admiral Scott A. Buschman.The Deputy Commandant for Mission Support is Vice Admiral Michael F. McAllister.
The Commander, Pacific Area is Vice Admiral Linda L. Fagan.
The Deputy Commandant for Operations is Vice Admiral Daniel B. Abel
Rear admiral
There are approximately 48 rear admirals in the Coast Guard. Positions held by rear admirals include the commanders of each of the nine Coast Guard Districts, the nine assistant commandants, and the deputies to each of the vice admirals. They are also located at Coast Guard Headquarters, Department of Defense commands, and other Coast Guard commands.The Superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy is Rear Admiral William G. Kelly.
The Coast Guard also utilizes members of the civilian Senior Executive Service to serve as executives within the organization. There are approximately 18 SES officials in the Coast Guard as of Fiscal Year 2017.
Commodore
The rank of commodore is no longer used in the Coast Guard. The equivalent rank used today is rear admiral. The chief elected officers of the Coast Guard Auxiliary are referred to as commodores, signifying their senior elected office, rather than a military rank.The title of commodore is occasionally granted to senior officers who are placed in command of a group or squadron of cutters. It is not a flag rank, but rather a title used to signify command of multiple units afloat.
Senior officers
Captain
Coast Guard captains, like their Navy counterparts, rank immediately below rear admiral. Coast Guard captains command most large operational units—sectors, large cutters, large air stations, integrated support commands, training centers and large headquarters units. Captains also direct most headquarters, area and district staff elements. Most captains have served in the Coast Guard for 21 to 30 years.By maritime tradition, the commanding officer of a ship is also called "captain", regardless of actual rank held. Thus, a young junior officer commanding a patrol boat is properly called "captain" even if his or her actual rank is lieutenant, or lieutenant. This tradition has also carried over to many shore units. Occasionally, terms like "old man" and "skipper" are also used, though not usually in the presence of the "captain". However, in current usage, the person in charge of a Coast Guard or Coast Guard Auxiliary small boat is the "coxswain".
Commander
Coast Guard commanders may head departments in large operational units or staff positions, or they may be the commanding officer of a medium-sized unit. The term commander is also associated with specific commanding officer positions, such as sector commander or district commander.Junior officers
The other commissioned officer ranks are- Lieutenant commander: Examples of positions held by a lieutenant commander include command of some Coast Guard cutters, executive officers of larger cutters, or departmental oversight positions at Coast Guard Sector commands.
- Lieutenant: Examples of positions held by a lieutenant include command of small boat stations, command of Coast Guard patrol boats, and as operations officers or engineering officers aboard larger Coast Guard cutters.
- Lieutenant junior grade: Examples of positions held by a lieutenant junior grade include command of Coast Guard patrol boats, executive officers of patrol boats, small boat stations, or as assistant operations officers aboard larger Coast Guard cutters.
- Ensign. Examples of positions held by an ensign include training billets as deck watch officers aboard large cutters, student engineers aboard large cutters, and staff positions at Coast Guard Sector commands.
Chief warrant officers
- Chief warrant officer 4
- Chief warrant officer 3
- Chief warrant officer 2
A chief warrant officer is not addressed as "chief"; that title that is normally reserved for the enlisted rank of chief petty officer. The proper way to address a chief warrant officer is to refer to their title or to address them as "Mr." or "Ms."
Due to the small and decentralized nature of the service, Coast Guard Warrant Officers often fill command roles. Warrant Officers may serve as officers-in-charge of Coast Guard Stations, or as Command warrant officers.
Chief petty officers
As in the Navy, Coast Guardsmen in the rates of Chief Petty Officer, Senior Chief Petty Officer, and Master Chief Petty Officer, are collectively called "chiefs," and serve as the service's senior non-commissioned officers. The Coast Guard is often found short of leaders therefore. Chiefs often can fill roles that would normally be filled by commissioned officers in other branches. Chiefs can serve as officers-in-charge of Coast Guard Stations, command or serve as engineering petty officers on smaller cutters, and act as department heads on larger cutters.Jason M. Vanderhaden is the current Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard and is the senior enlisted person of the Coast Guard and serves as an advisor to the Commandant. Like the Commandant, the MCPOCG serves a four-year term.
Regional responsibilities - Areas, Districts, and Sectors
Since most Coast Guard operations are domestic, the service has always been organized along regional lines. The Coast Guard's shore establishment divides the continental United States and its territories into two area commands - Coast Guard Atlantic Area and Coast Guard Pacific Area. The area commands are divided into districts, with each commanded by a rear admiral and responsible for a portion of the nation's coastline. Each district is further divided into sectors.Individual operational units report at various levels in this organizational structure. For example, small boat stations report to Sector Commanders while air stations report to District Commanders; both sectors and air stations are typically commanded by a captain. Cutters, rather than being organized into fleets as in most naval forces, instead report to shore establishment commanders. Generally speaking, the larger the cutter, the higher up the chain the cutter reports. For example, USCGC William Trump, a Sentinel-class cutter based in Key West, Florida, reports to Coast Guard Sector Key West, while USCGC Thetis, a larger Famous-class cutter also based in Key West, reports to the Atlantic Area Commander.
Additionally, there are three major operational commands located outside the United States:
- USCG Far East Activities is located at Yokota Air Base, Japan. FEACT also commands Port Security Unit’s which deploy to South Korea, helping to support U.S. Naval Forces Korea. FEACT helps inspects U.S. ships overseas and foreign ships that will be operating in the Pacific. FEACT helps by providing Maritime Safety, Security, Training and International Support.
- USCG Activities Europe is located in Schinnen, The Netherlands.
- Patrol Forces Southwest Asia is based out of Manama, Bahrain. Established in 2002, the mission of PATFORSWA is to train, organize, equip, support and deploy combat-ready Coast Guard forces in support of CENTCOM and national security objectives.
| District | Area | District Office | Area of Responsibility | Note |
| First District | Atlantic | Boston, Massachusetts | New England states, eastern New York and northern New Jersey | |
| Fifth District | Atlantic | Portsmouth, Virginia | Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina | |
| Seventh District | Atlantic | Miami, Florida | South Carolina, Georgia, eastern Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands | |
| Eighth District | Atlantic | New Orleans, Louisiana | Western Rivers of the U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico | |
| Ninth District | Atlantic | Cleveland, Ohio | Great Lakes | |
| Eleventh District | Pacific | Alameda, California | California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah | |
| Thirteenth District | Pacific | Seattle, Washington | Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana | |
| Fourteenth District | Pacific | Honolulu, Hawaii | Hawaii and Pacific territories | |
| Seventeenth District | Pacific | Juneau, Alaska | Alaska |