Captain Jennifer Bowden serves as the Thirteenth Chaplain of the U.S. Coast Guard. Her responsibilities include providing spiritual, moral, and wellness guidance to USCG service members and their families. Captain Bowden also consults with leadership to ensure that moral, ethical, and work-life balance issues are factored into policies and programs.
Prior to working with the Coast Guard, Captain Bowden served as the Force Chaplain to the Commander of Naval Air Forces in Coronado, California.
Her military service started in October 2001, when she was sworn into the Navy and reported to Naval Chaplain School in Newport, RI. Chaplain Bowden then reported to the USS FRANK CABLE (AS 40), in Agana Guam as the Division Officer.
She next reported to New London, CT, assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. During this tour she supported the cadets, faculty/staff, and active-duty personnel at the Academy. In 2007, Chaplain Bowden reported as the Command Chaplain to US Marine Corps Ammunitions Training
Command at Camp Fuji, Japan before transferring to the Marine Wing Support Squadron 273 as Command Chaplain, deploying with the unit to Al Asad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After successfully completing that tour of duty, Chaplain Bowden then transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard 1st District and Sector Southeastern New England in Cape Cod, MA where she covered Air Station Cape Cod, 18 Sector units, tenant commands, and DOD services. From there, she reported to COMDESRON NINE (CDS9), in Everett, WA, caring for twelve destroyers and frigates during her tour, which included RIMPAC 2014 and Pacific Partnership 2015. At CDS9, she was the Navy’s recipient of the Military Chaplain Association Distinguished Service Award. Chaplain Bowden then went to Groton, CT, as the Director for CREDO Mid-Atlantic offices in Groton and Norfolk. During her tenure there, she served as the Executive Director for the Navy’s Hope to Healing (H2H) resiliency retreat program.
Chaplain Bowden has extensive operational experience which includes her working at the USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN-76), based in Yokosuka, Japan, serving as the Command Chaplain for the ship and Combined Task Force Seventy. She also supervised USCG Active Duty, Reserve and Auxiliary Chaplain Support Chaplains, serving 8 sectors across 28 states and the Gulf Region while based at Coast Guard District Eight, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
A native of Tampa, Florida, and a permanent resident in Tennessee, Captain Bowden received her Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN in 1994. She completed her Master of Divinity degree from Emory University, Atlanta, GA, in 1998, and her Doctorate of Ministry from Wesley Seminary, Washington DC, in 2015. She was ordained in the United Methodist Church as an Elder in 2001, and holds her conference membership in North Georgia.
Her military awards include the Legion of Merit (1), Meritorious Service Medal (4), Navy Commendation Medal (4), Coast Guard Commendation Medal, and Navy Achievement Medal (2).