Highest-ranking member of the United States Coast Guard
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Commandant of the Coast Guard
Seal of the Coast Guard
Flag of the Commandant
Incumbent ADM Linda L. Fagan since 1 June 2022
United States Coast Guard
Type
Service chief
Reports to
Secretary of Homeland Security
Seat
Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building, Washington, D.C.
Appointer
The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length
4 years Renewable
Constituting instrument
14 U.S.C. § 302 14 U.S.C. § 504
Formation
14 December 1889
First holder
Leonard G. Shepard
Deputy
Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard
Website
www.uscg.mil
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 (U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area and U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area) and two deputy commandants (deputy commandant for operations and deputy commandant for mission support), all of whom are vice admirals.
Though the United States Coast Guard is one of the six military branches of the United States, unlike the other service chiefs, the commandant of the Coast Guard is not a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The commandant is, however, entitled to the same supplemental pay as each member of the Joint Chiefs, per 37 U.S.C. § 414(a)(5) ($4,000 per annum in 2009), and is accorded privilege of the floor under Senate Rule XXIII(1) as a de facto JCS member during presidential addresses.
The commandant maintains operational command over the Coast Guard, unlike the chiefs of the other services, who serve only administrative roles. Thus, while the operational chain of command for the other services (per the Goldwater–Nichols Act) goes from the president through the secretary of defense to the combatant commanders of the unified combatant commands, command and control of the Coast Guard goes from the president through the secretary of homeland security (or secretary of defense, when the Coast Guard is acting as a service in the Department of the Navy) through the commandant. Prior to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, the United States Coast Guard operated under and the commandant reported to the secretary of transportation from 1966 to 2003, and the secretary of the treasury from 1790 until 1966.
The current and 27th commandant is Admiral Linda L. Fagan, who assumed office on 1 June 2022. She is the first woman to serve in the role.[1][2]
^LaGrone, Sam (5 April 2022). "Biden Nominates Adm. Linda Fagan to Head Coast Guard, First Woman to Lead Military Service". USNI News. National Harbor, Maryland.
^Benson, Samuel (5 April 2022). "Biden to nominate first woman to lead a military service". Politico.
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