Vincent W. Patton III

Vincent W. Patton, III, Ed.D. is a retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard in the United States.

Career overview

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Vince Patton retired from the U.S. Coast Guard 1 November 2002, after serving 30 years of active duty. He became the first African American selected as the service's senior-most enlisted ranking position as the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard in 1998. His career included staff and operational assignments both afloat and ashore throughout the United States, and a joint military service assignment in Cuba and Haiti.

Job description and accomplishments

Patton served as the Eighth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard from May 1998 to October 2002. As the service's top senior enlisted leader and ombudsman, he was the principal advisor to the Commandant of the Coast Guard, his directorates, and the Secretaries of Transportation and Defense, with primary focus on quality of life issues, career development, work environment and personnel matters affecting over 40,000 active duty, reserve enlisted, and civilian personnel servicewide. He routinely addressed these specific issues before appropriate United States Senate and House committees in the United States Congress, as well as with the Commander-in-Chief, along with his senior enlisted counterparts of the other four military services.

His numerous military awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, three Coast Guard Commendation Medals, three Coast Guard Achievement Medals, the Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon, eight Meritorious Team awards and nine Coast Guard Good Conduct awards. He also earned the Cutterman's insignia (sea duty recognition) and is one of a few Coast Guardsmen to have earned the coveted "Parachutist Wings" specialty badge during his assignment with Joint Task Force 160.

Education

All of Patton's initial college education through doctorate degree was earned while on active duty. He received his Doctor of Education degree in 1984 from the American University, Washington, DC. His dissertation was based on the development and implementation of the Coast Guard Enlisted Evaluation System. He has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology from Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois; a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from Shaw College at Detroit, Michigan; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Pacific College, Angwin, California.

His extensive military education includes U. S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy, Petaluma, CA, U. S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, Fort Bliss, TX and the Department of Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI).

After retirement

After his military retirement, Patton completed a Master of Theology degree in Applied Religious Studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. In addition, he was an adjunct professor teaching 'Philosophy of Ethics' at the University of California at Berkeley. Since 2003, he has performed summer missionary work with the International Rescue Committee in Haiti, and worked as an executive director for the nonprofit Halley's Comet Foundation, teaching 'at-risk' teenagers seamanship and sailing skills. He served as a volunteer tour advisor and chaplain for the USO, participating in the "Operation Handshake" program to visit U.S. military personnel during the 2004 Thanksgiving holiday in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in the 2003 holiday season with U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia involved with Operations "Iraqi Freedom" and "Enduring Freedom."

Presently, Patton is the director of community outreach for Military Advantage, also known as 'Military.com,' the largest website devoted to the military community covering benefits, information and transition. In addition, Patton is co-chair of the National Coast Guard Retiree Council. He holds board memberships with the Defense Intelligence Agency's National Defense Intelligence College, U.S. Naval Institute, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, Managers Mentors, Inc., and the First Command Educational Foundation. He is a lay minister with Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as a response team member with the Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Ministry Team. Patton also volunteers as a critical incident stress-debriefing counselor for the Association of Professional Chaplains.

Personal life

Patton resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife, who is a U.S. Coast Guard officer. His daughter resides in the Bay Area of California; and his adult son, a U.S. Army veteran (82nd Airborne).

See also

*United States Coast Guard
*the Coast Guard in other countries

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/vwpatton Vincent Patton's myspace]
* [http://www.military.com Military Advantage]
* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/FAQS/vincent_patton.html USCG Official Bio]
* [http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=44119 DefenseLink News Article]