President Donald Trump will nominate Adm. Kevin Lunday, the acting Coast Guard commandant, to fill the vacancy, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Noem made the disclosure Wednesday while addressing the graduating class at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Lunday is the Coast Guard’s confirmed vice commandant and has served as the acting commandant since January, when the Trump administration fired Adm. Linda Fagan.
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The secretary also announced that Vice Adm. Thomas Allan, who is the acting deputy commandant for operations, will be nominated to become the Coast Guard’s vice commandant. If confirmed, he would replace Lunday.
Once confirmed, Lunday will lead the Coast Guard through a transformational reformation.
Lunday and Noem announced last month Force Design 2028, a plan for bringing about “transformational change to renew the Coast Guard,” Lunday said at the time. The plan consists of four main campaigns: people, organization, technology, and acquisition and contracting.
One of the planned changes to Coast Guard leadership is a call for the creation of a Coast Guard Service Secretary. The person who fills the position will operate like the secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, because the Space Force is within the Air Force, and the Marine Corps is within the Navy.
As the secretary of homeland security, Noem is the top civilian in the Coast Guard because it falls under the Department of Homeland Security, not the the Defense Department’s purview. This new position, which will require Senate confirmation, will report to her directly.
Lunday acknowledged on Monday that the service “is at the lowest point of readiness than at any other time since the end of World War II” and said the “readiness crisis has been decades in the making.”
COAST GUARD AT ‘LOWEST POINT OF READINESS’ SINCE WWII, COMMANDANT SAYS
The Coast Guard is also preparing to cut 12 flag officer positions, according to a Lunday message to the troops on Thursday, which is a part of the Pentagon’s broader effort to reduce the number of senior military leaders.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed a reduction of at least 20% of four-star positions across the Active Component, at least a 20% reduction of general officers in the National Guard, and an additional minimum of 10% cuts in general and flag officers. His memorandum did not specify which positions could be cut or what criteria they would use to determine which cuts to make.