Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard meets with USTRANSCOM

Adm. Paul Zukunft, commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, addressed members of U.S. Transportation Command and its component commands Jan. 26 in the Seay Auditorium.

Zukunft was the second guest in USTRANSCOM's 30-4-30 Distinguished Speaker Series, an initiative to celebrate the command's 30th anniversary in October 2017. Air Force Gen. Darren McDew, USTRANSCOM commander, has invited 30 four-star general officer, flag officer and equivalent strategic senior leaders to speak about how they view the globe, linkages between USTRANSCOM's and the leader's organization, and a vision for USTRANSCOM partnerships.

During his visit, Zukunft also had an office call with McDew and participated in a discussion with command senior leaders. 

Zukunft assumed the duties of the 25th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard on May 30, 2014. He leads America’s oldest continuous seagoing service and the largest component of the Department of Homeland Security, comprised of 41,700 active duty, 7,800 reserve, 8,300 civilian and 31,000 volunteer auxiliarists.

Prior to this, he served as commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, where he was operational commander for all USCG missions in an area encompassing more than 74 million square miles and provided mission support to the Department of Defense and Combatant Commanders. Other flag assignments include commander of the Eleventh Coast Guard District and director, Joint Interagency Task Force West, where he served as executive agent to U.S. Pacific Command for combating transnational criminal organizations in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2010, Zukunft served as the federal on-scene coordinator for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, where he directed more than 47,000 responders, 6,500 vessels and 120 aircraft during the largest oil spill in U.S. history. His senior staff assignments included chief of Operations, Coast Guard Pacific Area and chief of Operations Oversight, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, where he directly supervised all major cutter operations in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. He also served as chief of staff at the Fourteenth Coast Guard District in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Zukunft has commanded six units and served extensively in the cutter fleet where he commanded the cutters Cape Upright, Harriet Lane and Rush.

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