Rear Admiral Kelly E. Taggart (17 December 1932 – 7 May 2014) was a career officer who served in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, its successor, the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps (ESSA Corps), and the ESSA Corps's successor, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps). He served as the second Director of the NOAA Corps.

Early life

Kelly Edward Taggart was born in Cairo, Illinois, on 17 December 1932,bowlincantriel.com Obituary: Rear Admiral Kelly Edward Taggart
/ref> the son of Curtis A. Taggart (1908–1965)Find-A-Grave Kelly Edward Taggart (1932–2014)
/ref> and the former Bernice K. Garnett (1910–2000). He attended Centertown High School in Centertown, Missouri, and graduated from Jefferson City High School in Jefferson City, Missouri. After high school, he attended

Jefferson City Junior College Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian fo ...

in Jefferson City before transferring to the University of Missouri, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1955.Kelly Taggart Rear Admiral, University of Washington National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
/ref> He later received a master's degree from the School of Public Affairs and Institute of Marine Affairs at the University of Washington.

Career

In 1955, Taggart joined the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, accepting a commission as an ensign in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, beginning a career of

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

, charting, and geophysical research. He rose through the ranks of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps over the next ten years. On 13 July 1965, a new United States Government scientific agency, the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA), was created. Under the reorganization that created ESSA, both the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the United States Weather Bureau, although retaining their independent identities, came under the control of ESSA, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps was removed from the Coast and Geodetic Survey and subordinated directly to ESSA, becoming the

Environmental Science Services Administration Corps A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scal ...

(ESSA Corps). As of that date, Taggart became an officer of the new ESSA Corps. On 3 October 1970, ESSA was abolished and replaced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Under the reorganization that accompanied the creation of NOAA, the Coast and Geodetic Survey was abolished and its functions were transferred to various parts of the new NOAA organization. The ESSA Corps became the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps), and Taggart became a NOAA Corps officer. During his career, Taggart served for a combined seven years aboard five

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...

s. At sea, he served as the co-director of geophysical studies of plate tectonics that determined how the crustal plates of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, the Pacific Ocean, and Asia are connected. He also served in the Gulf of Mexico where he conducted geophysical surveys that identified underwater salt domes for the stocking of U.S. strategic oil reserves. He was the operations officer for the International Air-Sea Interaction Project in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, coordinating the activities of six research ships, 15 aircraft, and 20 university and government research agencies from three countries. While serving as

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the

research ship A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

NOAAS ''Oceanographer'' (R 101) during the 1970s, he oversaw research studies of the physical, biological, and benthic region in the tropical Pacific Ocean to determine its biological productivity and the potential damage to the area from deep-ocean mining of manganese nodules. For nine years, Taggart served in a flight status, flying both helicopters and

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinc ...

on mapping missions. He also served in Washington, D.C., in the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

and as director of the National Ocean Service. He was deputy associate director of NOAA's Office of Fleet OperationsAnonymous, "In Memoriam," ''The Buzzard'', May 2014, p. 3.
/ref> when, in 1980, he was appointed Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps. In 1986 he retired from that position with the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Personal and professional life

Taggart married the former Jenice Haldiman on 4 June 1960. He was a member of the University of Missouri's Academy of Distinguished Alumni.

Awards

US Department of Commerce Silver Medal ribbon

Department of Commerce Silver Medal * SAME-Karo Award Ribbon

Karo Award The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (or "NOAA Corps"), one of the eight uniformed services of the United States, has the authority to issue various awards and commendations to its members. These inclu ...

Taggart received the Department of Commerce Silver Medal, the Society of American Military Engineers

, the Distinguished Engineer Award from the University of Missouri, and many other honors and awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taggart, Kelly E. 1932 births 2014 deaths People from Cairo, Illinois American civil engineers University of Missouri alumni Evans School of Public Policy and Governance alumni United States Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel Environmental Science Services Administration personnel National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps admirals Recipients of the Department of Commerce Silver Medal Burials in Missouri Engineers from Illinois Military personnel from Illinois