A Simple Sailor

Rear Adm. Timothy S. Sullivan begins many of his speeches to U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) members by joking that he is a simple sailor from the great seafaring state of Wisconsin. The Milwaukee native has been a long way from home since joining the armed forces 36 years ago, but he has a genuine passion to protect the maritime economy and environment, save those in peril and defend maritime borders. His enthusiasm for his work and his personnel has sustained him while developing each of the Coast Guard’s 11 missions.

“I get so excited about being in the Coast Guard,” Sullivan said. “I feel like I have to pinch myself every morning. I can’t believe I’m getting paid to do something that I really enjoy and have enjoyed for so long. I’ve been given the opportunity to be a lifelong learner and can now return that favor as an educator.”

As the first chief learning officer of the USCG and commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Force Readiness Command for the past two years, Sullivan has been preparing 42,000 active members alongside 2,600 civilian employees who help to create a performance cycle that focuses on doctrine, training, tactics and procedure writing. Although the training for all of those individuals, regardless of civil and military responsibilities, is in Sullivan’s hands, he defines the Coast Guard as a small organization with a large impact — smaller in size than the New York Police Department, he said.

The USCG, one of five branches of the U.S. armed forces under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is composed of enlisted members, officers and civilians. Enlisted individuals learn a technical specialty and serve on rescue boats or helicopters, maintain ships and aircraft, or contribute to behind-the-scenes logistics. Senior enlisted members and officers share leadership responsibility, though officers are often assigned management positions. There are several ways to become an officer in the Coast Guard: by successfully graduating from the Coast Guard Academy, successfully completing Officer Candidate School (OCS) or through one of several direct commissioning programs. While the majority of training for enlisted fields is done on the job, not in classrooms, officer programs are often delivered via formal, traditional learning.