Commandant of the Coast Guard


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.
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 , and is accorded privilege of the floor under Senate Rule XXIII as a de facto Joint Chiefs of Staff 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 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 through the commandant. Prior to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, the United States Coast Guard or its predecessor, the Revenue Cutter Service 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.
As of 15 January 2026, the 28th commandant of the Coast Guard is Admiral Kevin Lunday.

History

The title of commandant dates to a 1923 act that distributed the commissioned line and engineer officers of the U.S. Coast Guard in grades. Before 1923, the rank and title of the head of the Coast Guard was "captain-commandant." The rank "captain-commandant" originated in the Revenue Cutter Service in 1908. The original holder of that rank was the Chief of the Revenue Cutter Service. The Coast Guard traces the lineage of commandants back to Captain Leonard G. Shepard, chief of the Revenue Marine-Bureau, even though he never officially received the title of captain-commandant. The captain-commandant position was created in 1908 when Captain Worth G. Ross was the first to actually hold the position. Although he was retired, Ross's predecessor, Captain Charles F. Shoemaker, was elevated to the rank of captain-commandant. Shoemaker's predecessor, Captain Shepard, had already died and was not elevated to the rank.

Chiefs of the Revenue Marine Bureau

Chiefs exercised centralized control over the Revenue-Marine Bureau.
In 1849 the Revenue-Marine Bureau was dissolved, and the Revenue Marine fell under the control the commissioner of customs until the Revenue-Marine Bureau was again established in 1869.
  • N. Broughton Devereux, 1869–1871
  • Sumner I. Kimball, 1871–1878
  • Ezra Clark, 1878–1885
  • Peter Bonnett, 1885–1889

    List of commandants

There have been 28 commandants of the Coast Guard since the office of chief of the Revenue-Marine Bureau was transferred to a military billet.

Timeline