New London, Conn. – A 1955 New London High School alumnus, Captain Paul E. Versaw, assumed responsibilities as assistant superintendent at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on August 15, 1988. He became the forty-sixth individual to serve in that capacity.
Prior to his academy assignment Versaw commanded Coast Guard Group San Francisco, the largest such office in the Coast Guard’s Pacific organization.
While in that position Versaw directed the seizure of the tug Intrepid Venture on May 23, 1988, which resulted in the largest hashish-marijuana confiscation in U.S. History.
Versaw’s previous assignments include chief of the Coast Guard’s international affairs branch, where he established working relations with foreign governments in maritime matters. He led numerous delegations which negotiated agreements concerning search and rescue, piracy and maritime terrorism. In preparations for this assignment, Versaw became the first Coast Guardsman to attend the U.S. State Department’s Executive Seminar in National and International Affairs. The ten month foreign service institute is the most advanced educational program available to senior government officials.
A 1961 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, he served aboard the Coast Guard cutters Mackinaw, Rockaway, Unimak, and Venturous. Assignments ashore include legal officer at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, D.C., the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, and the Thirteenth Coast Guard District in Seattle. Versaw obtained his juris doctorate from Catholic University in Washington, D.C.
Versaw is married to the former Marjorie Anne Rich of Tacoma, Wash. The Versaw’s have three children and will reside in quarters on the academy grounds.