U.S. Coast Guard

Overview

The U.S. Coast Guard is a branch of the U.S. military overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, whose stated missions include controlling, securing and defending America’s borders and maritime approaches, including U.S. ports and waterways (U.S. Coast Guard). In January 2025 it became the first U.S. military branch to have its leader fired in the opening days of a new administration — and by January 2026 it had a new permanent commandant and the most ambitious transformation plan in its modern history (Military Times).

The January 2025 firing

On January 21, 2025, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman relieved Adm. Linda L. Fagan of her duties as Commandant, announcing the move in ALCOAST message 021/25 to the entire Coast Guard workforce (U.S. Coast Guard). The message thanked Fagan for “a long and illustrious career” and stated that Adm. Kevin E. Lunday would become Acting Commandant “by operation of law,” assuming all the authority and responsibilities of the office (U.S. Coast Guard).

Fagan, installed in June 2022, had been the first woman to lead a branch of the U.S. military (Military Times). The Department of Homeland Security’s stated reasons for the firing were a failure to properly address border security threats, poor responses to cases of sexual assault at the Coast Guard Academy, and giving diversity, equity and inclusion policies too much priority (Military Times). The dismissal angered Democrats: Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington said the complexity of the Coast Guard’s missions required continuity to protect lives and American interests, and that the firing set a bad precedent (Military Times).

The Lunday succession

Lunday, 60, had joined the Coast Guard in 1987 and served as vice commandant under Fagan from June 2024 until he filled the acting commandant opening (Military Times). His background spans Atlantic-area and Indo-Pacific operations and cyberspace: he previously directed the Coast Guard’s remote and deployable cyberspace operations protecting U.S. maritime critical infrastructure, and before that served as Director of Exercises and Training (J7) at U.S. Cyber Command, where he directed the joint training and certification of the Defense Department’s Cyber Mission Force (Military Times). He is a graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, George Washington University Law School and the National War College (Military Times).

In May 2025, Secretary Kristi Noem signaled Lunday’s nomination to the permanent post during the Coast Guard Academy’s graduation ceremony in Connecticut, where Lunday told the crowd that “now is the time for fundamental change” and that the service would become “a stronger, more capable, and more agile force” (Military Times). Trump formally nominated him on October 23, 2025, and the notice was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation (Military Times).

The confirmation then stalled over a workplace-policy fight. A new Coast Guard harassment instruction described symbols such as swastikas and nooses as “potentially divisive” rather than designating them hate symbols — stopping short of banning them, saying commanders could take steps to remove them from public view, and exempting private spaces such as family housing (Military Times). Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada said she was holding up Lunday’s nomination because leadership appeared to have backtracked on a commitment that swastikas and nooses are considered hate symbols and prohibited from display (Military Times). The Department of Homeland Security insisted there had never been a “downgrade” in policy language, and the Coast Guard stated on social media that it maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward hate symbols and extremist ideology (Military Times).

The wording was removed in December 2025. Noem said the superseded pages would be struck from the record so no one could “misrepresent” the branch’s position, and Rosen said she was lifting her hold, writing that she was pleased the policy now used stronger language against swastikas and nooses (Military Times). The Senate confirmed Lunday as commandant that night (Military Times). On January 15, 2026, Noem swore him in as the 28th Commandant of the Coast Guard at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. (DVIDS (U.S. Department of Defense)).

Force Design 2028

The transformation plan now reshaping the service was announced by Noem on May 21, 2025, at the Coast Guard Academy’s 144th commencement exercises: Force Design 2028, which she called “the biggest change since 1915” (U.S. Coast Guard). The plan calls for purchasing new aircraft, growing the workforce by 15,000 people, and fixing aging facilities and maintenance shortfalls (U.S. Coast Guard). Noem told senior Coast Guard leaders that “funding the Coast Guard is one of my top priorities” and that the service had been “neglected for many, many years,” adding that she would make sure it is “right-sized to meet the requirements of your missions” (U.S. Coast Guard).

Force Design 2028 was directed by Noem and is led by Sean Plankey, the Senior Advisor to the Secretary for the Coast Guard (U.S. Coast Guard). It is organized around four campaigns — People, Organization, Acquisition and Contracting, and Technology — with priorities including a more agile and capable fighting force, contracting and acquisition reform, deployment of cutting-edge technology, and eliminating non-essential or obsolete programs (U.S. Coast Guard). Lunday, then acting commandant, endorsed it in full: “Under Secretary Noem’s leadership, Force Design 2028 is the Coast Guard’s way forward. There is no alternative. We are all-in” (U.S. Coast Guard).

What this profile does not claim

This profile does not state the service’s exact founding date or its personnel and fleet figures — those appeared only as snippet leads and were not confirmed from a full-read source. It does not describe the underlying facts of Operation Fouled Anchor, mentioning it only as one of the Department’s stated reasons for the firing. It does not assert the reported 25 percent cut to flag-officer billets or the proposed service-secretary legislation, which could not be fetched in full. It takes no position on whether the hate-symbol wording was a substantive downgrade or, as the Department maintained, never one.