CDR Steve Minutolo

I have selected CDR Steve Minutolo and he has accepted the Coast Guard's offer to be our new Chief, Administration Division, (G-OCX-1). This GS-14 position is a critical fill and we finally have the right person for this important leadership position. Steve is worth the wait. More to follow in a future edition of the Navigator and other introductions (not that he needs too much of one).

I take this opportunity not only to announce this hiring but also to ask you to join me in giving Steve a hearty welcome aboard to the Coast Guard HQ G-OCX Team.

Steve will join OCX during our visit to Personnel Support Command (PSC), Topeka, Kansas on 17 and 18 May to discuss the travel reimbursement process and global possibilities regarding travel issues and the Auxiliary. Then Steve will report aboard OCX on 27 May 2004.

Here is a little snap shot about (CDR) Steve Minutolo.

He was born and raised in the village of Lindenhurst, NY, and was selected in 1976 by his local Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla to attend the Academy Introduction Mission (AIM) held that summer at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He subsequently applied for and was accepted to the Coast Guard Academy and reported in immediately after graduating high school in 1977. He graduated and was commissioned from the Coast Guard Academy in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Science.

His first three Coast Guard assignments were served in CGC ALERT (WMEC 630 - then home ported in Cape May, NJ), the Seventh District Operations Center in Miami, FL, and as Operations Officer in CGC VIGOROUS (WMEC 627 - then home ported in New London, CT).

Both afloat assignments were typified by numerous deployments on Northwest Atlantic fishery enforcement patrols and Caribbean law enforcement/alien migrant interdiction patrols. His D7 opcenter assignment was highlighted by many complex search-and-rescue cases, law enforcement actions, and Coast Guard response to the space shuttle Challenger disaster.

He followed these tours of duty with a graduate school assignment at the University of Rhode Island where he earned a Masters in Public Administration.

In 1991, he helped pre-commission and deliver the new Island-class patrol boat CGC JEFFERSON ISLAND (WPB 1340 - home ported in Portland, ME) as its first Commanding Officer.

This tour was followed by assignment to the Budget and Programs Division at Coast Guard Headquarters (then G-CPA, now CG-82) where he served as Reserve Program Reviewer, Operating Expense (OE) Coordinator for the Coast Guard's Fiscal Year 1996 budget, and Multi-year Budget Strategy Coordinator.

In 1996, Steve shifted into joint military service when he was assigned as the Coast Guard Liaison Officer to the U.S. Atlantic Command in Norfolk, VA and coordinated U.S. security and humanitarian assistance to the Caribbean region. The following year, he proceeded down-range to serve as the U.S. Military Liaison Officer to the Eastern Caribbean (American Embassy Barbados). He reported to U.S. Southern Command while brokering all U.S. military training and security assistance to eight different island nations.

Since 1999, he has served as Director of Auxiliary for D5 - Northern Region based in Philadelphia, PA. He has worked closely with the region's three most recent District Commodores and respective EXCOM leaders as well as its 3,000+ Auxiliarists distributed across 16 Divisions and nearly 100 Flotillas.

CDR Minutolo's awards include two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, a Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal, a Joint Commendation Medal, and two Coast Guard Commendation Medals. He joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary in 2001 and presently serves as an instructor, FSO-VE and FSO-MS for Flotilla 47 in Marcus Hook, PA. He has two children (Christine, 17, and Pete, 15) who live in south-central New Jersey.

Signed:
Captain Dave Hill, Chief Director

Editor’s note: Absent from CDR Minutolo’s above resume is that he is an active member of the Auxiliary. He currently serves as the Flotilla Vessel Examination Staff Officer (FSO-VE) for Flotilla 47, D5-NR, Berwyn, PA.