Rear Admiral Arthur E. Brooks assumed the duties as Deputy Commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area in August 2009, where he serves as the deputy operational commander for all U.S. Coast Guard missions within the eastern half of the world. Ranging from the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf, Atlantic Area’s area of responsibility includes five Coast Guard Districts, 42 states with over 14 million square miles, and more than 51,000 military and civilian employees and Auxiliarists. He concurrently serves as Deputy Commander, Defense Force East and provides Coast Guard mission support to the Department of Defense and Combatant Commanders.
Prior to this assignment, Rear Admiral Brooks served as Commander, Coast Guard District Seventeen where he directed Coast Guard operations including search and rescue, maritime safety, environmental protection, fisheries law enforcement, and military readiness within Alaska and the North Pacific. Units and personnel under his command patrolled over 3.8 million square miles of ocean and 33,000 miles of coastline, including some of the most treacherous waters in the world.
Rear Admiral Brooks was promoted to Flag in 2004 and was appointed as the Deputy Director for Operations, U.S. Northern Command. Within this assignment, Rear Admiral Brooks was responsible for providing strategic planning and execution guidance for Homeland Defense and Defense Support to Civil Authorities missions.
Upon his commissioning as an Ensign from the United States Coast Guard Academy, he served aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Dependable. Rear Admiral Brooks’ other afloat assignments included Commanding Officer, USCGC Point Harris; Executive Officer, USCGC Confidence; and Commanding Officer, USCGC Seneca. Rear Admiral Brooks’ assignments ashore included the Fifth Coast Guard District Operations Center; Eleventh Coast Guard District Assistant Staff Legal Officer; Head, Department of Professional Development, Staff Legal Officer, and Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy; Commander, Coast Guard Greater Antilles Section; and Chief of Staff, Coast Guard Atlantic Area.
Commissioned in 1974, Rear Admiral Brooks has a Bachelor of Science degree from the U. S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Rear Admiral Brooks also holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He was a Coast Guard Fellow in the Department of State's 39th Senior Seminar, National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Arlington, Virginia; and is a graduate of the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government Senior Executive National and International Security Program.
Click here to see RADM Brooks' biography as Senior Director, Technical Organization, Maersk Line, Limited, 2010-2014.