CAPTAIN PETER J. BROWN
CHIEF OF STAFF, ATLANTIC AREA
UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
Originally from Somers, NY, Captain Brown is a 1985
graduate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor’s degree in
chemistry. His first tour of duty as a commissioned officer was as Deck
Watch Officer, Boarding Officer, and Operations Officer aboard USCGC
SAGEBRUSH (WLB 399) home ported in San Juan, PR. His other sea tours have
included: Operations Officer, USCGC THETIS (WMEC 910) Key West, FL;
Executive Officer, USCGC JARVIS (WHEC 725) Honolulu, HI; and, from
2006-2008, Commanding Officer, USCGC BOUTWELL (WHEC 719) Alameda, CA. While
under Captain Brown’s command, BOUTWELL interdicted 5 drug trafficking
vessels which were transporting over 13 metric tons of cocaine, a migrant
smuggling vessel with 128 undocumented migrants aboard, and 6 foreign
fishing vessels that were using internationally banned High Seas Drift Nets.
As a Lieutenant (junior grade), he helped start the Coast Guard Law
Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) program, inaugurating LEDET 8-A in Mobile, AL
and patrolling the Caribbean on a variety of U.S. Navy ships from
1987-89. He then served a short tour on the staff of the Commander,
Caribbean Squadron, which commanded all LEDET/Navy law enforcement
operations in the Caribbean. Other Law Enforcement tours included the
Seventh Coast Guard District’s Tactical Law Enforcement Team (D7 TACLET) in
Miami, FL and command of TACLET South, also in Miami. During these two
tours, he also served on an ad hoc basis, as the Coast Guard’s liaison
officer to the United States Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy in
Havana, Cuba. From 2004-06, he served as the deputy of the Enforcement
Branch of the Seventh District, coordinating drug and migrant interdiction
operations across the Florida Straits, Bahamas, and Caribbean. He returned
to Seventh District in July 2008 to head the Enforcement Branch and in March
2009 “fleeted up” to head the Response Division, adding Search & Rescue,
Incident Management, Disaster Response, and Intelligence to his portfolio.
In July, 2011, he became the Chief of Staff for Coast Guard Atlantic Area.
Captain Brown earned a Master’s degree in chemistry at the University of
Miami in 1991 and taught chemistry at the Coast Guard Academy from 1991-95.
While teaching, he worked with the Coast Guard’s Research and Development
Center in the testing of emerging drug detection technologies, paving the
way for the deployment of advanced analytical chemical instruments at sea
for law enforcement. During the same period, he also earned a law degree
from the University of Connecticut. His awards include the Legion of Merit,
5 Meritorious Service Medals, 2 Commendation Medals, 3 Achievement Medals,
and numerous unit and team awards.
Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF)