Paul Alexander Yost Jr. (January 3, 1929February 9, 2022) was an admiral 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, mu ...
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 ...
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 G ...
at
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 H ...
and
The George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, presi ...
. 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 ...
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
This article contains a list of United States Coast Guard stations in the United States within the United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service br ...
Third Coast Guard District
This article contains a list of United States Coast Guard stations in the United States within the United States Coast Guard's Organization of the United States Coast Guard#Regional responsibilities, nine districts. There are currently many st ...
, 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 global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, ...
, 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 l ...
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 in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. 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 ...