Rear Admiral Michael Day is currently serving as the Director of the Coast Guard’s Talent Management Transformation Program Integration Office. He is responsible for leading development of the Coast Guard’s talent management system in direct support of the Service’s strategy to Transform the Total Workforce.
Prior to his current assignment, Rear Admiral Day was the Commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District, where he directed Coast Guard operations throughout Oceania, including Hawai’i, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and activities in Singapore and Japan. As Commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District, he worked closely with partner agencies and allies to advance maritime governance as part of the rules-based international order essential to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Rear Admiral Day was also the Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security, providing counsel to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary regarding policies, plans, and other affairs between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.
Other notable assignments include Executive Assistant to the Commandant and Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard. Additionally, he served in the Strategy and Policy Directorate (J5) for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was also Commanding Officer of the Pacific Strike Team, where he participated in a variety of emergency responses in locations ranging from the Arctic to Taiwan and throughout the United States; and Commander of Sector New York from 2015 to 2018.
In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he was immediately designated the Coast Guard onscene commander for the evacuation of lower Manhattan. In this capacity, he coordinated the response of over 100 civilian vessels in evacuating over 500,000 people from lower Manhattan in the largest maritime evacuation in history.
Rear Admiral Day has earned graduate degrees in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, and in Public Administration from Bridgewater State University. Rear Admiral Day also completed a one-year fellowship at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government as a National Security Fellow and participated in a one-year Maritime Industry Training program with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Rear Admiral Day has received numerous military and civic awards. However, he considers those awards earned throughout his career associated with unit performance to be most satisfying and representative of Coast Guard service because they recognize the participation and accomplishment of all crew members.