Thomas J. Barrett

Thomas J. Barrett, of Alaska, was nominated January 24, 2006, by President George W. Bush to be Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) at the Department of Transportation. Barrett would replace Brigham McCown, who has been Acting Administrator and Deputy Administrator since July 1, 2005.

At the time of his nomination, Vice Admiral Barrett was serving as "Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Prior to this, he served the United States Coast Guard for over thirty-five years, retiring as Vice Commandant." 

Profiles
On May 30, 2002, then Vice Admiral Barrett "assumed duty as Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard," serving as "the Coast Guard's second in command." Barrett was the "Agency Acquisition Executive, head[ing] the Leadership Council, and co-chair[ing] the Navy-Coast Guard Board, an interservice policy coordination body. Prior to his appointment he served as the Commander, Seventeenth Coast Guard District in Juneau, Alaska, where he built close partnerships across all levels of government to advance Coast Guard program goals, especially relating to maritime safety of cruise ships, tank ships, and the fishing fleet. He developed cooperative relationships with the Northern Pacific nations that led to reduced incursions by foreign fishing vessels into the United States' Exclusive Economic Zone." 

In June 1997, Barrett was serving as the director of Reserve and Training, U.S.C.G. Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

"Barrett graduated from Coast Guard Officer Candidate School, Yorktown, Va. and was commissioned in January 1969. He served first as a deck officer, including aboard the USCG Cutter Chase (WHEC718) with deployment to Vietnam. He then served on the 13th Coast Guard District staff in Seattle, Wash. Following duty in the Claims and Litigation Division, Office of Chief Counsel, and Project Staff for Outer Continental Shelf Safety, Office of Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection, Barrett reported for the first of several tours in Alaska, eventually moving up to the post of Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Support Center, home to nine commands on Kodiak Island and the largest operational Coast Guard base in the world. In 1994 he returned to Washington as Deputy Chief, Office of Personnel and Training. In May 1996 he moved to the Coast Guard Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Va. where he served as Deputy Commander until assuming his current post." 

"Commissioned in 1969 following completion of Officer Candidate School, Yorktown, VA, Vice Admiral Barrett holds a Bachelor's of Science in Biology from LeMoyne College and a Juris Doctor with honors from George Washington University. He is a 1989 graduate of the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania." He also graduated from "the National Defense University Capstone Course in National Security Strategy and Military Capabilities." 

Profiles

 * Staff: VADM Thomas Barrett, USCG (Ret.), Vice President and COO, Potomac Institute.

Interviews

 * U.S. Coast Guard Oral History Program. Operation Noble Eagle Documentation Project: "Attack on America: September 11, 2001 and the U.S. Coast Guard," Interviewee: Vice Admiral Thomas J. Barrett, USCG Vice Commandant; Interviewer: PAC Peter Capelotti, USCGR, July 2, 2002.

Articles & Commentary

 * "Rear Admiral Thomas J. Barrett Appointed to Reserve Forces Policy Board," Department of Defense, June 26, 1997.
 * Harold Kennedy, "Defending Ports. Coast Guard Requiring Ports to Tighten Security," National Defense Magazine, May 2004.