Captain Simmons currently serves as the Chief of Staff for Coast Guard Atlantic Area overseeing all staff functions necessary for mission execution across the Service’s largest operational command.
Captain Simmons previously served as the Coast Guard Budget Director, responsible for the planning, programing, formulation and defense of the Coast Guard’s annual budget submission. He also oversaw the Coast Guard Office of Coordination, Programming and Accountability (CG-CPA), and its predecessor, the Office of Budget and Programs (CG-82). From 2021 to 2024, he commanded Coast Guard Forces Micronesia and Sector Guam, leading all Coast Guard members and operations in the Service’s largest and most remote Sector area of responsibility.
A career cutterman, Captain Simmons accumulated more than ten years of sea time on five ships, including: Deck Watch Officer and Assistant Navigator on CGC DILIGENCE (WMEC 616) in Wilmington, North Carolina; Operations Officer on CGC FORWARD (WMEC 911) in Portsmouth, Virginia; Commanding Officer on CGC WASHINGTON (WBP 1331) in Apra Harbor, Guam; Executive Officer on CGC LEGARE (WMEC 912) in Portsmouth, Virginia; and Commanding Officer on CGC TAMPA (WMEC 902) in Portsmouth, Virginia. During those tours, crews conducted missions from drug and migrant interdiction to search and rescue in areas including the Northern Atlantic Ocean, Eastern Pacific Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Philippine Sea.
Captain Simmons’ staff tours focused on special assignments and intelligence including: Deputy Military Aide to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Procurement, Construction and Improvements Budget Coordinator in the Office of Budget and Programs at Coast Guard Headquarters; intelligence analyst and later Smuggling Branch Chief at Coast Guard Intelligence Coordination Center in Suitland, Maryland; and as the Deputy Agent in Charge of Coast Guard Counterintelligence Service Region East at Coast Guard Atlantic Area.
Captain Simmons holds a Master’s Degree in Strategic Intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Government, with high honors, from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He completed the U.S. Air Force Joint Professional Military Education Phase 1 and is a graduate of the Defense Counterintelligence Agent’s Course.