Admiral Kevin Lunday
Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
Kevin Eugene Lunday was born in October 1965 in Columbia, South Carolina. He graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy with a science degree, and later earned an MS from the National War College and a Juris Doctor from George Washington University. He also graduated from the College of Naval Command and Staff.
Lunday commanded a Coast Guard cutter near the beginning of his career and became director of exercises and training for U.S. Cyber Command. He also commanded Coast Guard Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center Atlantic, the Coast Guard Cyber Command, then the Coast Guard Fourteenth District. He became commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area. He was nominated Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard by President Joe Biden in March 2024.
Lunday served as acting Coast Guard Commandant from the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term. He was confirmed to the position by the Senate in December 2025.
In the News…
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Lunday co-chaired the inaugural U.S.-Pacific Islands Conference of Police Ministers, held earlier this month in Los Angeles, California, with Palau Minister of Justice Jennifer Olegeriil. The conference followed up on a U.S. commitment from the Pacific Islands Forum in Palau in September to convene Pacific police ministers to address shared concerns and challenges.
The State Department outlined the purpose of the conference, “[Criminal] networks threatening Pacific communities operate as a single criminal enterprise. Precursor chemicals are supplied to clandestine labs in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Southeast Asia, which produce finished product that cartels then move across the Pacific by courier, international mail, private aircraft, and semi-submersible vessels. All of this is supported by extensive money laundering operations.“
The State Department said, “Ministers and senior officials responsible for police matters from across the Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand, and France joined regional organizations, senior U.S. officials, law enforcement leaders from the Western Hemisphere, Southeast Asia, and representatives from American industry.”
The department highlighted, “More than 1.9 million American citizens and nationals live in Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and approximately 53 million Americans live along the western seaboard, from California to Alaska. Our commitment to the security of the Pacific Islands is steadfast and enduring, and it is a key pillar of our America First Foreign Policy. When the Pacific Islands are secure, the American homeland is safer.”
