Paul Alexander Yost Jr. (January 3, 1929February 9, 2022) was an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

of the

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 ...

who served as the 18th

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 1986 to 1990.

Early life and career

He was a native of

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

. He graduated from 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 ...

in 1951, and earned graduate degrees from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

and

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

. In 1966 Yost assumed command of which was home-ported at

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He was Commander, Task Group 115.3, a combat command in 1969 supporting

Operation Market Time Operation Market Time was the United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Navy and Royal Australian Navy operation begun in 1965 to stop the flow of troops, war material, and supplies by sea, coast, and rivers, from North Vietnam into parts of Sout ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, He was promoted to flag rank in 1978 and served three years as Commander, Eighth Coast Guard District in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. He later served concurrently as Commander, Atlantic Area Maritime Defense Zone and as Commander, Third Coast Guard District, accepting those appointments in 1984. Prior to assuming those command posts, he served as Chief of Staff at Coast Guard Headquarters.

Tenure as Commandant

Yost was responsible for eliminating the longstanding tradition of beards at sea. He was also known for driving the Coast Guard toward a robust coastal defense mission, and a parallel initiative to dramatically increase the armament aboard Coast Guard cutters. Prior to his tenure Coast Guard cutters were outfitted with weapons systems designed to fight the

War on Drugs The war on drugs is a Globalization, global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of prohibition of drugs, drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the Unite ...

, and other law enforcement related missions. He added naval warfare systems to larger cutters, which included the Harpoon missile system,

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of ...

s (CIWS), and other similar upgrades. Following his retirement, the Harpoon missile systems were removed and the coastal defense mission was de-emphasised in favor of the more traditional missions of

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

, law enforcement, marine safety and aids to navigation. Yost's focus on the coastal defense mission was often derided by Coast Guardsmen and Congress alike who referred to his era as the "Yost-Guard."

Retirement and death

Following his retirement from the Coast Guard in 1990, he served as President of the

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

-based

James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation was established by the United States Congress in 1986 to encourage outstanding current and future secondary school teachers of American history, American government, and social studies in grades 7 ...

until 2010. He was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

, and had served on the church's Military Relations Committee. Following his retirement from the Coast Guard, he received the

Naval Order of the United States The Naval Order of the United States was established in 1890 as a hereditary organization in the United States for members of the American sea services. Its primary mission is to encourage research and writing on naval and maritime subjects and pr ...

Distinguished Sea Service Award in 1992. Yost died February 9, 2022 in Provo, Utah.

References

External links

U.S. Naval Institute biography of Yost.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yost, Paul A. Jr. 1929 births 2022 deaths University of Connecticut alumni Commandants of the United States Coast Guard United States Coast Guard admirals United States Coast Guard Academy alumni George Washington University alumni United States Coast Guard personnel of the Vietnam War American Latter Day Saints People from St. Petersburg, Florida Military personnel from Florida Military personnel from Alexandria, Virginia