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

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many 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. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

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 ...

from 1986 to 1990.

Early life and career

Yost 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 List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

. He graduated from the

United States Coast Guard Academy The United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA), located in New London, Connecticut, is the United States service academies, U.S. service academy specifically for the United States Coast Guard. Founded in 1876, the academy provides education t ...

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 outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

, in 1951, and earned graduate degrees from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

and

The George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress and is the first ...

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

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. 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 (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

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

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. 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, 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, Yost served as President of the

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

-based James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation 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 Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and 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 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 Commandants of the United States Coast Guard United States Coast Guard admirals United States Coast Guard Academy alumni George Washington University alumni University of Connecticut alumni Reagan administration personnel United States Coast Guard personnel of the Vietnam War People from St. Petersburg, Florida Military personnel from Florida Military personnel from Alexandria, Virginia Latter Day Saints from Florida Latter Day Saints from Virginia 20th-century American military personnel