Thad William Allen (born 16 January 1949) is a former

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

who served as the 23rd

commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

from 2006 to 2010. Allen is best known for his performance directing the federal response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast region from September 2005 to January 2006, and for his role as National Incident Commander of the Unified Command for the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill was an environmental disaster off the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico, on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect. It is considered the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum in ...

in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

in 2010."Coast Guard's Chief of Staff To Assist FEMA Head Brown", ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', 7 September 2005 Robert J. Papp Jr. succeeded him as Commandant on 25 May 2010. Allen remained on active duty for 36 days after being succeeded as commandant while serving as Deepwater Horizon National Incident Commander. He officially retired from the U.S. Coast Guard on 30 June 2010, but continued to serve as National Incident Commander for an additional three months. He has worked as an executive vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton since November 2011.

Early life and education

Allen was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the son of retired U.S. Coast Guard chief damage controlman and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran Clyde and Mrs. Wilma Allen. Allen is a 1967 graduate of Palo Verde High School in

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. His family moved frequently during his childhood with his father's assignments. He attended the

United States Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA), located in New London, Connecticut, is the United States service academies, U.S. service academy specifically for the United States Coast Guard. Founded in 1876, the academy provides education t ...

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

, where he was a standout football player, graduating in 1971. He holds a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

degree from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

and a Master's degree in Management (S.M.) from the MIT Sloan School of Management as a Sloan Fellow.Official biography
U.S. Coast Guard website

Career

United States Coast Guard

In his four decades of service, Allen has held operational command both at sea and ashore, conducting missions to support the maritime safety, security and environmental stewardship interests of the nation. Allen was the last commanding officer of

LORAN LORAN (Long Range Navigation) was a hyperbolic navigation, hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee (navigation), Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order ...

Station Lampang, Thailand, serving there from 1974 to 1975. Station Lampang was part of the LORAN chain first put into use in 1966 as part of " Operation Tight Reign" in support of military operations in the Vietnam War.Johnson, p 203 He served aboard USCGC ''Androscoggin'' (WHEC-68), and USCGC ''Gallatin'' (WHEC-721) and commanded USCGC ''Citrus'' (WLB-300). He performed dual roles as commanding officer of Group Long Island Sound and Captain of the Port, and he commanded Group Atlantic City. He also commanded the Seventh Coast Guard District in Miami and the Atlantic Area in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Flag officer

Admiral Thad Allen portrait painting by Michele Rushworth

Allen's first assignment as a

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

was as Director of Resources at Coast Guard Headquarters then Commander, Seventh Coast Guard District, where he directed all operations in the Southeastern United States and Caribbean. Following that assignment he served as Commander, Atlantic Area and U.S. Maritime Defense Zone Atlantic. In this capacity he oversaw all Coast Guard operations on the U.S. East Coast, Gulf Coast, and Great Lakes in the aftermath of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. Allen served as the U.S. Coast Guard's Chief of Staff from May 2002 until May 2006. As Chief of Staff, Allen was third in the Coast Guard's command structure, and was commanding officer of Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Hurricane Katrina

On 5 September 2005, while serving as Coast Guard Chief of Staff, Allen was appointed deputy to

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

Director Michael D. Brown by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, and placed in charge of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

search-and-rescue and recovery efforts. Former colleagues interviewed after the announcement praised Allen as well-suited to the task. On 9 September 2005, Allen was given full command of the Bush administration's Hurricane Katrina onsite relief efforts. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff elevated Allen following the removal of Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael D. Brown from that position. Allen announced on 25 January that he would be relieved of this responsibility on 27 January 2006.

Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard

Allen assumed the duties of the 23rd Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard on 25 May 2006. He was appointed to a four-year term by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and confirmed by the Senate. Admiral Robert J. Papp Jr. succeeded him as commandant on 25 May 2010, in a change of command ceremony.

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

On 30 April 2010, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that Allen would serve as the National Incident Commander for the federal government's response to the

in the

. After the end of his service as commandant on 25 May 2010, Allen continued serving as National Incident Commander until 1 October 2010, when that billet was disestablished. He also remained on active duty in the Coast Guard until 30 June 2010, which was the first time in history the Coast Guard had two active duty four-star admirals. The position of Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard has since been made a four-star rank.

Operation Fouled Anchor (OFA) Investigation

On 25 July 2024, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability investigating the Coast Guard’s mishandling of serious misconduct, including racism, hazing, discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and the failure to disclose internal investigations into those issues to Congress requested that Admiral Allen participate in a voluntary transcribed interview. The Committee stated that " e of the key questions the Committee is examining is the extent to which senior USCG leadership willfully concealed internal reports from Congress that would have informed policy changes needed to combat, and further prevent, future incidents of misconduct. Additionally, as the Chief of Staff during and the Commandant following the date range investigated by OFA, the Committee is interested in learning more about what efforts were made to notify Congress or conceal misconduct. We believe that as the former Commandant and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Coast Guard, you have information that will assist us in fully understanding the extent to which USCG withheld these reports from Congress, how these incidents of misconduct were handled, and what actions USCG took regarding those responsible. We therefore request that you make yourself available voluntarily for a transcribed interview."

RAND Corporation and Booz Allen Hamilton

In October 2010, Allen joined the

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

as a senior fellow. On 28 November 2011, Booz Allen Hamilton named Allen a Senior Vice President, joining the firm's Justice and Homeland Security business and leading development of thought leadership and client engagement regarding the direction of law enforcement and homeland security.

Personal life

Allen resides in

Vienna, Virginia Vienna () is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Vienna has a population of 16,473. Significantly more people live in ZIP codes with the Vienna postal addresses (22180, 22181, ...

, with his wife Pamela A. Hess, whom he married in October 1975. They have three children and five grandchildren. He was elected a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow in 2003. Allen's civilian awards include the 2006 Strategic Vision Award by the Global Strategy Institute (GSI) of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In 2009, he was awarded the Admiral Of The Ocean Sea Award (AOTOS) from the United Seaman's Service and the 2009 Business Achievement Award given by Beta Gamma Sigma, the academic

honor society In the United States, an honor society is an organization that recognizes individuals who rank above a set standard in various domains such as academics, leadership, and other personal achievements, not all of which are based on ranking systems. ...

affiliated with the

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to busines ...

. He was nominated for this award by the United States Coast Guard Academy. Allen, in May 2013, also received an honorary doctorate in public service from the

. Allen is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. His official U.S. Coast Guard portrait, painted by artist Michele Rushworth was unveiled at Fort Lesley J. McNair upon his retirement. Allen is a member of the Coast Guard Academy Board of Trustees. He was also the director of the

bureaucratic Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

transition of the Coast Guard from the Department of Transportation to the

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, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

Awards and decorations

Citations

References used

* ''Portions of this biography were taken from the Coast Guard's official biography https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Notable-People/All/Article/1762857/admiral-thad-w-allen/'' *

External links

*
Harvard Business Review Podcast: Leading Through a Major Crisis

new unified command, Cdr.: ADM (Ret.) Thad Allen

CNN, 9 September 2005
Thad Allen to lead Katrina recovery effortMarine Log.com
9 September 2005

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

press release, 9 January 2006 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Thad 1949 births Booz Allen Hamilton people Commandants of the United States Coast Guard George W. Bush administration personnel Fellows of the United States National Academy of Public Administration Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration alumni Living people MIT Sloan Fellows MIT Sloan School of Management alumni Military personnel from Los Angeles Military personnel from Tucson, Arizona People from Vienna, Virginia Military personnel from Fairfax County, Virginia Recipients of the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Coast Guard Academy alumni United States Coast Guard admirals United States Department of Homeland Security officials Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)