Vice Admiral Dan Abel (retired) completed over 37 years of active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard, culminating as its Chief of Operations. Other senior roles included leading all Coast Guard units in the Northeast U.S. and later command of forces in the brutal conditions of Alaska, the Northern Pacific, and emerging Arctic. Interagency and joint military roles included Chief of the Joint Coordination Cell confronting COVID for the Secretary of Health & Human Services, Director of Operations of U.S. Southern Command, and Deputy Director of Operations at U.S. Northern Command. Flying helicopter and jet aircraft, he commanded Air Stations in San Francisco and Cape Cod. As a staff officer, he served in the small cadre that crafts and defends the Coast Guard's budget, and was Program Manager of the Coast Guard's Rescue 21 project, which recapitalized the nation's maritime distress alerting radio network. He holds degrees from the Coast Guard Academy, the National Defense University, and the College of William and Mary. He is President of the crisis response/recovery coaching and consulting firm Status Paratus ("Condition: Ready"), and serves as a senior fellow for both the National Defense University and RAND. He crafted and teaches Crisis Leadership for Virginia Commonwealth University's Master of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
B.S. in civil engineering, United States Coast Guard Academy; M.B.A. in business administration, College of William and Mary; M.S. in national security strategy, National Defense University
President, Status Paratus LLC; Senior Fellow, National Defense University
