Rear Admiral Little assumed the duties of Commander, Coast Guard Arctic District in July 2025. He is responsible for safeguarding the security, prosperity, and resilience of the Alaska and Arctic maritime regions through strategic oversight and execution of operations. Key responsibilities include protecting the Arctic marine transportation system to facilitate lawful trade and travel, conducting search and rescue operations to safeguard lives, and defending critical infrastructure against emerging threats. The District Commander also leads efforts to address the unique challenges posed by the Arctic environment, including extreme weather conditions and evolving geopolitical dynamics, while fostering collaboration with federal, state, tribal, and international partners. Leading a force of more than 1,700 active duty, reserve, civilian, and auxiliary personnel, Rear Admiral Little directs the deployment of 15 cutters, 44 boats, and 13 aircraft to execute Coast Guard operations to secure, control, and defend the northern border. Headquartered in Juneau, the District provides agile and ready maritime forces to support Coast Guard and Department of Defense commanders in joint and interagency operations, both domestically and internationally.
Rear Admiral Little previously served aboard six Coast Guard Cutters, held three afloat commands, accumulated over 13 years of sea time, and operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific areas of operations. His operational career has been focused on securing the U.S. maritime border, conducting alien migrant and narcotics interdiction, defense operations, combating criminal networks, and safeguarding U.S. maritime commerce. His most recent afloat command was the National Security Cutter STRATTON, which deployed to the Western Pacific for defense and security operations with the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea to protect National sovereign interests, and the Eastern Pacific to support the U.S. Southern Command’s counter narcotics surge of 2020, that resulted in 1,000 arrests and seizure of 120 tons of narcotics.
Rear Admiral Little has also served in several shore-based staff tours, most recently as the Director of the Joint Interagency Task Force West, leading the Task Force in Honolulu, Hawaii and their partners to counter illicit drugs and threats to protect the U.S. Homeland and strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific. He also served as the Executive Assistant to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. In this capacity, he was a principal advisor on policy, strategy, and resource initiatives across all operational and mission support activities. Other staff assignments include Chief of Maritime Forces for the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area, Special Assistant to the 28th Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, Appropriations Manager in the Office of Resource Management, and Deputy Comptroller at the Coast Guard’s Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia.
Rear Admiral Little is a 1995 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Management. He has been awarded a Master of Business Administration by both the College of William and Mary and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is a 2012 graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and in 2015 completed the Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership at the MIT Sloan School of Management.