Rear Admiral Henry H. Bell, USCG, Chief, Office of Merchant Marine Safety, is a native of Connecticut where he attended Connecticut StateTeachers College for one year before being appointed a cadet at the Academy in 1947.
After graduation in 1951, he reported to Boston where he served the next three years in Casco, Eastwind, and Bibb. He continued his tour in Boston, as a post-graduate student in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1954. Three years later, with his new Master of Science and Engineering Degrees, he was assigned as Ship Superintendent at the Yard in Curtis Bay. June of 1958 saw him returning to sea duty, this time as Engineer Officer in the Seattle based Northwind. While on board he sailed to both the south and the north, participating in Antarctic's Deep Freeze IV and two Bering Sea Patrols.
His next assignment brought him east to Washington to serve in the Merchant Marine Technical Division at Headquarters. He stayed there until 1964 when he moved on to the Merchant Marine Technical Section in New Orleans. Following another three year tour at Curtis Bay in the Production Department, he returned to Headquarters. From 1970 to 1974 he served first as Assistant Chief and then as Chief of the Merchant Marine Technical Division. For his accomplishments in that post he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. among other achievements he was cited for serving as a member of the Marine Pollution Conference Task Group and as a delegate of the United States International Conference on Marine Pollution in 1973.
Then a captain, he spent a year as a student at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington. Graduating in August of 1975 with a Master of Science Degree in Administration from George Washington University, he was transferred to San Francisco to take over the duties of Commanding Officer of the Marine Safety Office and Captain of the Port. In July 1977, he moved up to become Chief, Operations Division of the 12th District. While there he was selected for promotion to flag rank. In July of 1978, the admiral broke his new flag and assumed the responsibilities of his present position.
Born in 1928, RADM Bell is married to the former Brenda Bennett of Bethesda, Maryland. They are the parents of three children.
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