David Pekoske

David Pekoske
Vice Admiral David Pekoske 26th Vice-Commandant of the United States Coast Guard
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	Coast Guard
Years of service	1977-2010 (33)
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	Pacific Area Deputy Commandant for Operations First Coast Guard District Group/MSO Long Island Sound
Battles/wars	Cold War September 11, 2001 attacks
Awards	Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal (2) Legion of Merit (2)

David P. Pekoske is a retired U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral. He concluded his 33 years of active service in 2010 as the 26th Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard service

Commissioned in 1977, Pekoske earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Ocean Engineering from the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. He is a 1989 graduate of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University with a Masters Degree in Public Administration. Pekoske graduated from the MIT Sloan School of Management with an MBA Degree in 1997. He served as a member of the United States Coast Guard Academy Board of Trustees from 2006-2008.

His 33-year career has included a variety of operational and staff assignments and command of six Coast Guard operational units. He has served on the west, gulf and east coasts of the United States and on the Great Lakes. Pekoske’s operational expertise is in the operations ashore community. His staff expertise is in strategic planning, program analysis and budget development.

Pekoske served Executive Assistant to the Commandant from 2001 to 2004. From 1999 to 2001, he commanded Coast Guard Group/Marine Safety Office (now Sector) Long Island Sound, based in New Haven, Connecticut.

Flag assignments

Vice Admiral Pekoske served as Commander, Pacific Area/Coast Guard Defense Forces West in Alameda, California. He oversaw the operation of units performing missions in marine safety, maritime mobility, protection of natural resources, maritime security, homeland security and national defense in an Area of Operations encompassing over 73,000,000 square miles (190,000,000 km²) throughout the Pacific Basin and Far East. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Commandant for Operations at Coast Guard Headquarters. From 2004 to 2006 he was Commander of the First Coast Guard District/Maritime Defense Command One headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Vice-Commandant

Vice Admiral Pekoske served as Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from August 7, 2009 to May 24, 2010. As second in command to Admiral Thad Allen and Chief Operating Officer, Vice Admiral Pekoske executed the Commandant's strategic intent, managed internal organizational governance and served as the Component Acquisition Executive.

Awards

His personal decorations include the Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal, Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal (2), the Legion of Merit (2), the Meritorious Service Medal (5), the Coast Guard Commendation Medal (2), the Coast Guard Achievement Medal (4) and the Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon.^[1]

Advanced Boat Force Operations Insignia
Commandant Staff Badge

	Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal
	Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal with gold award star
	Legion of Merit with gold award star
	Meritorious Service Medal with four gold award stars and the Operational Distinguishing Device.
	Coast Guard Commendation Medal with gold award star
	Coast Guard Achievement Medal with three gold award stars
	Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon

References

Portions of this biography were taken from the Coast Guard's official biography of Vice Admiral Pekoske.^[2]

1. Wadlow, PO1 Kip. "Vice Commandant Change of Watch [Image 2 of 5]". US Coast Guard Atlantic Area. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
2. USCG official biography

External links

• U.S. Coast Guard