Owen Wesley Siler (January 10, 1922July 17, 2007) was a

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

admiral who served as the 15th

commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

from 1974 to 1978.

Early life and education

Siler was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

and grew up in

Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Mary") is a city near the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. It is approximately no ...

where he attended

Santa Maria High School Santa Maria High School (SMHS) is a public comprehensive high school in Santa Maria, California, United States. Located in the heart of the city, Santa Maria High School is the oldest school in the Santa Maria Valley and is part of the oldest hi ...

. He graduated from Santa Maria Junior College (now

Allan Hancock College Allan Hancock College is a public community college in Santa Maria, California. History In 1920 Allan Hancock College was started by the Santa Maria High School District. Originally called Santa Maria Junior College, classes were held until ...

) in 1940, and transferred to the

United States Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is a service academy of the United States Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1876, it is the smallest of the five U.S. service academies and provides education to future Coast Gu ...

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, graduating a year early due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the assault troop transport ship, , and participated in the invasion of Bougainville. Siler received a Master of Science degree in international affairs from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It i ...

in 1968.

Career

During

, Siler quickly advanced through the ranks, serving as a gunnery officer, assistant navigator, and deck watch officer. In the immediate aftermath of the war, he participated in the U.S. occupation of Northern

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Upon returning to the United States in April 1946, he briefly served as a personnel officer at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda (island), Alam ...

, before his assignment as navigator of . His career with the U.S. Coast Guard included serving as a deck officer afloat, as an aviator performing search and rescue patrols, and ashore in the law enforcement, marine safety and environmental protection fields. Other assignments included chief of the search and rescue branch in Juneau, Alaska, deputy chief of staff in Washington, and commanding officer at Air Station Miami, where the station received a Coast Guard unit commendation for Cuban exodus operations during October and November 1965. From 1971 until his appointment as commandant, he served as commander of the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

-based 2nd Coast Guard District. During Siler's tenure as commandant he instituted a minority recruiting program and was instrumental in having women admitted to the

U.S. Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is a service academy of the United States Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut. Founded in 1876, it is the smallest of the five U.S. service academies and provides education to future Coast G ...

, making it the first of the military service academies to do so. He also oversaw the expansion of the U.S. Coast Guard's marine environmental protection program, with the passage of the Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976, which included an increase of the service's jurisdiction along the U.S. coastline to more than two million square miles. Siler was the last

veteran to serve as commandant.

Dates of rank

Awards and decorations

Later life and death

Following his retirement from the U.S. Coast Guard, Siler moved to

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, where he died from complications of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

on July 17, 2007, at the age of 85, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

References

External links

Official Coast Guard Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siler, Owen W. 1922 births 2007 deaths Commandants of the United States Coast Guard United States Coast Guard admirals Ford administration personnel Allan Hancock College alumni Elliott School of International Affairs alumni United States Coast Guard Aviation United States Coast Guard Academy alumni United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II Recipients of the Legion of Merit Military personnel from Seattle Military personnel from Savannah, Georgia Military personnel from California Santa Maria High School alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery 20th-century American military personnel