Cari Batson Thomas is a retired

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

and a 1984 graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy. On January 22, 2010, Thomas became the third female commander of USCG Training Center Cape May to be advanced to a flag officer. Her final assignment was Assistant Commandant for Human Resources at the Coast Guard Academy. Since retirement, she has served as executive director of the Navy League and on the board of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. She currently serves as the CEO of the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Association and as an IMO Maritime Ambassador.

Coast Guard career

Cari Thomas served aboard cutters ''

Vigorous Vigorous may refer to: * Operation Vigorous Operation Vigorous (known in Italy as 1942, "the Battle of mid-June 1942") was a British operation during the Second World War, to escort supply convoy MW11 from the eastern Mediterranean to Malta, wh ...

'', '' Valiant'', and commanded ''

Manitou Manitou (), akin to the Iroquois '' orenda'', is the spiritual and fundamental life force among Algonquian groups in the Native American theology. It is omnipresent and manifests everywhere: organisms, the environment, events, etc. ''Aasha ...

''. Additionally, other operational assignments included Group- Air Station Atlantic City and as

plankowner A plankowner"U.S. Navy Style Guide", Navy.mil website (also referred to a plank ownerCutler and Cutler, p 167 and sometimes a plank holder) is an individual who was a member of the crew of a United States Navy ship or United States Coast Guard Cut ...

and Commander, Sector Miami, Response Operations. Some of her responsibilities included transitions to the RB-S, 47' MLB, 49' BUSL, and 87' CPB as well as numerous USCG, joint DOD, and interagency operations in the Northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Bahamas, Straits of Florida, New Jersey coast and Delaware Bay. Thomas also served in the Enlisted Personnel Division of the Personnel Command, Admissions at the Coast Guard Academy, as a Program Reviewer at Headquarters and as the Executive Assistant to the Atlantic Area, Fifth District and Maritime Defense Zone Atlantic Commanders. She was able to gain experience in leading new

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-te ...

response regimes, she served two years as the Chief of Staff to Principal Federal Official (PFO), Northeast Region and as the predesignated Deputy PFO, Florida (collateral duty), Atlantic Area Resource Director, and as commander, Training Center Cape May.http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/763/227527/ As a flag officer, she served as Assistant Commandant, Response Policy (CG-5R), Commander, Coast Guard District Fourteen, and Assistant Commandant, Human Resources (CG-1). Thomas graduated with distinction from the Naval War College with a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies. She also holds a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from

Troy State University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. Troy University is accredi ...

and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Coast Guard Academy. She served on the board of directors for the Academy Alumni Association, and participated in various Coast Guard studies, including Project Kimball, Academy Task Force and as co-lead for the Force Readiness Command design team. Her awards include two

Legions of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

, five

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

s, the

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, and the Sea Services Leadership Association North Star award, among many other personal, unit and campaign awards. She earned permanent cutterman status in 1994.

Family

Thomas' husband is Commander Gary Thomas, USCG (Retired), who was a former chief of electronic navigation and oversaw the decommissioning of

Loran-C Loran-C is a hyperbolic radio navigation system that allows a receiver to determine its position by listening to low frequency radio signals that are transmitted by fixed land-based radio beacons. Loran-C combined two different techniques to ...

transmissions by the Coast Guard. While RADM Thomas served as Fourteenth District Commander, Gary proudly accepted his role as a Coast Guard spouse, actively participating with the Coast Guard Spouses’ Association of Oahu. As is customary for the D14 Commander, they were billeted at the

Diamond Head Lighthouse Diamond Head Lighthouse is a United States Coast Guard facility located on Diamond Head in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu in the State of Hawaii. The lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The Diamond Head ...

, and he was always quick to correct guests who mistakenly believed he was the Admiral and commented how lucky his wife must be at his assignment. They have one adult daughter, Andi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Cari Batson Year of birth missing (living people) Living people United States Coast Guard Academy alumni Troy University alumni Naval War College alumni United States Coast Guard admirals Female admirals of the United States Coast Guard 21st-century American women