Rear Admiral Joanna Nunan served 35 years on active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1987 to 2022. Her final assignment was as the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support organization's Deputy for Personnel Readiness (DCMS-DPR) at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, DC. In this capacity, she was responsible for optimizing the contributions of Human Resources, force readiness training, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in providing a mission ready workforce. She also chaired the Academy's Board of Trustees and was the Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Headquarters.
A Bridgeport, Connecticut native, Rear Admiral Nunan graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1987. Her early sea duty was in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Western Pacific before she became the last commanding officer of the WWU era USCGC IRONWOOD in Kodiak, Alaska, and subsequently the first commanding officer of its state of the art replacement, the 225-foot SPAR.
Ashore, she has held senior positions in two different Cabinet offices: Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security and Military Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation. She commanded the Coast Guard's Ninth District, which encompasses the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaways Region and has been Chief of Staff at the Force Readiness Command, Sector Commander in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Deputy Sector Commander in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
During her recent tenure as Assistant Commandant for Human Resources, RADM Nunan presided over the most far reaching Diversity and Inclusion initiatives in the Service's history, as well as the enormous policy overhaul necessary to face the COVID-19 crisis.
Her professional studies range from a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to a Coast Guard license and fellowship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a non-partisan think tank in Washington, DC. She has attended a number of courses on national and international security at Harvard University and the Naval Post Graduate School. She also holds several Coast Guard merchant marine licenses, including Master of vessels of not more than 1,600 gross tons and 3rd Mate on vessels of unlimited tonnage, upon oceans
In December 2022 she was commissioned as a Vice Admiral in the U. S. Maritime Service and became the 14th Superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York, which graduates more than 200 young leaders and mariners every year, holding Bachelor of Science degrees, unlimited U.S. Coast Guard licenses, and active duty or reserve commissions in the armed forces.
Rear Admiral Joanna Nunan served 35 years on active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1987 to 2022. Her final assignment was as the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support organization's Deputy for Personnel Readiness (DCMS-DPR) at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, DC. In this capacity, she was responsible for optimizing the contributions of Human Resources, force readiness training, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in providing a mission ready workforce. She also chaired the Academy's Board of Trustees and was the Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Headquarters.
A Bridgeport, Connecticut native, Rear Admiral Nunan graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1987. Her early sea duty was in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Western Pacific before she became the last commanding officer of the WWU era USCGC IRONWOOD in Kodiak, Alaska, and subsequently the first commanding officer of its state of the art replacement, the 225-foot SPAR.
Ashore, she has held senior positions in two different Cabinet offices: Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security and Military Assistant to the Secretary of Transportation. She commanded the Coast Guard's Ninth District, which encompasses the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaways Region and has been Chief of Staff at the Force Readiness Command, Sector Commander in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Deputy Sector Commander in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
During her recent tenure as Assistant Commandant for Human Resources, RADM Nunan presided over the most far reaching Diversity and Inclusion initiatives in the Service's history, as well as the enormous policy overhaul necessary to face the COVID-19 crisis.
Her professional studies range from a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to a Coast Guard license and fellowship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a non-partisan think tank in Washington, DC. She has attended a number of courses on national and international security at Harvard University and the Naval Post Graduate School. She also holds several Coast Guard merchant marine licenses, including Master of vessels of not more than 1,600 gross tons and 3rd Mate on vessels of unlimited tonnage, upon oceans
In December 2022 she was commissioned as a Vice Admiral in the U. S. Maritime Service and became the 14th Superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York, which graduates more than 200 young leaders and mariners every year, holding Bachelor of Science degrees, unlimited U.S. Coast Guard licenses, and active duty or reserve commissions in the armed forces.
