Rear Admiral Pluta and his wife Jane (of nearly 50 years) are happily and totally retired in Wilmington, NC. He is the founder and was the managing member of Pluta Maritime LLC, an independent maritime consulting firm. Admiral Pluta acquired over 45 years of experience in leadership and management positions in the U.S. Coast Guard, in the private sector, and within the international maritime community. He helped to steer and develop national and international policy and strategy by advising government leaders in the U.S., Canada, and Panama, as well as national and international commercial maritime executives. He has addressed maritime issues both domestically and internationally and published numerous professional articles. Admiral Pluta has provided advice on a broad range of issues, including doctrinal development, organizational strategy, interagency relationships, homeland security, national defense, marine safety, marine environmental protection, maritime security, international maritime transportation, marine navigation, and radiological and nuclear detection. He served on several Boards and his worldwide client base included the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the Panama Canal Authority, and the Marine Spill Response Corporation.
From his retirement from the Coast Guard in July 2003 through January 2006, Admiral Pluta served as a senior executive and Member of the Board of Directors for a DC-based technology corporation, where he stood up a new operating division focused on the homeland security marketplace and helped to secure contracts for managing government training, developing a nationwide port security exercise program, conducting security plan review, and conducting homeland security and emergency response exercises.
Through his Coast Guard career, Admiral Pluta acquired both program management and operational experience in homeland security (including all modes of transportation), marine safety, marine environmental protection and counterterrorism intelligence. He served as the primary U.S. negotiator at the United Nations International Maritime Organization, where the global standards for maritime security were developed, and worked closely with the U.S. Congress on the domestic legislation that implemented the complementary U.S. standards. Admiral Pluta also served as the National Security Advisor and Senior Intelligence Officer to the Secretary of Transportation, responsible for departmental policy and oversight in the areas of intelligence and security.
Admiral Pluta is a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He holds an M.S.E. degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan. His early tours of duty included assignment afloat, postgraduate training, staff positions at Coast Guard District and Headquarters offices, and shipyard inspection duty. From July 1988 - July 1991, he served as Commanding Officer, Marine Safety Office, Wilmington, NC, where his command played a key role in support of OPERATION DESERT STORM. Admiral Pluta commanded the Coast Guard’s largest training center in Yorktown, VA, and served as Chief of Staff, Ninth Coast Guard District, Cleveland, OH, where he was responsible for the day-to-day Coast Guard activities throughout the entire Great Lakes region.
In July 1996, Admiral Pluta achieved flag rank and was appointed Director, Office of Intelligence and Security in the Department of Transportation. He served as the Secretary of Transportation's national security advisor and principal liaison to the Intelligence Community. Admiral Pluta then served as the Commander of the Coast Guard’s largest regional command, the Eighth Coast Guard District headquartered in New Orleans, and was then reassigned to Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC, as the Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection, where he directed national and international programs for commercial vessel safety, port safety and security, waterways management, and marine environmental protection.
A native of Carteret, NJ, Admiral Pluta has been married to the former Jane M. O. of Weeksville, NC, for 48 years. They are blessed with three wonderful and talented children, Christine, Kevin, and Brian. An avid baseball fan, Admiral Pluta is a perennial visitor to Spring Training and hopes, over time, to visit every Major League ballpark.