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Meet the CO

CAPT David A.Vaughn, Commanding Officer of USCGC POLAR SEA Commanding Officer

The Commanding Officer (CO) is Captain David A. Vaughn. Captain Vaughn assumed command of POLAR SEA in June 2009. As CO, Captain Vaughn is responsible for the overall safety of the ship and crew, as well as the successful completion of POLAR SEA's assigned missions.

Captain David A. Vaughn graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1986, with a degree in Marine Science. His first assignment was Deck Watch Officer and Communications Officer in USCGC NORTHWIND, the last remaining Wind-class icebreaker in service. He next served as Executive Officer in USCGC BISCAYNE BAY, a 140 foot icebreaking tug, homeported in St. Ignace, MI.

From 1990 to 1992, he served in the Coast Guard District Seven Command Center in Miami, FL, coordinating all CG operations in the southeastern U.S. and Caribbean. After earning a Masters Degree in Business Administration at Pennsylvania State University, he served on the Human Resources staff at CG Headquarters from 1994 to 1998. In 1998, he was selected to serve as the first the Operations Officer aboard the newly-built USCGC HEALY. After bidding farewell to HEALY in Tromso, Norway in August 2001, he began his next assignment in CG Headquarters in the Office of Command and Control Architecture just days before 9/11/2001. In this assignment, he identified requirements and secured funding for improved command, control and surveillance technologies, greatly enhancing service-wide operational capability to meet the vastly increased demands in the post-9/11 environment.

In 2004, Captain Vaughn was assigned as Executive Officer on USCGC POLAR SEA. After seeing POLAR SEA through a 27-month maintenance availability, he was instrumental in successfully preparing the crew to operate the ship again. The culmination of that effort was the highly successful execution of Deep Freeze 2007, POLAR SEA’s most recent Antarctic deployment. Captain Vaughn's last assignment before assuming command of POLAR SEA was at Coast Guard District Nine in Cleveland, OH, where he was the Chief of Planning, Resources and Force Readiness.

Captain Vaughn has three children. His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (2), Coast Guard Commendation Medal (4), Coast Guard Achievement Medal, Antarctic Service Medal and Arctic Service Medal (3).