Owen W. Siler

Owen W. Siler
Born	(1922-01-10)January 10, 1922
Died	July 17, 2007(2007-07-17) (aged 85) Atlanta, Georgia
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Coast Guard
Years of service	1943 - 1978
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Commandant of the Coast Guard
Battles/wars	Bougainville Occupation of Japan Cuban refugee crisis of 1965
Awards	Legion of Merit Meritorious Service Medal Coast Guard Unit Commendation American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal Navy Occupation Service Medal National Defense Service Medal

Admiral Owen Wesley Siler (January 10, 1922 – July 17, 2007) served as the fifteenth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from 1974 to 1978.

Biography

Siler was born in Seattle, Washington and raised in Santa Maria, California where he attended Santa Maria High School. He graduated from Santa Maria Junior College (now Allan Hancock College) in 1940, and transferred to the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, graduating a year early due to World War II. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the assault troop transport ship, USS Hunter Liggett, and participated in the invasion of Bougainville.

During the war, he quickly advanced through the ranks serving as Gunnery Officer, Assistant Navigator, and Deck Watch officer. In the immediate aftermath of the war, he participated in the U.S. occupation of Northern Honshū, Japan.

Upon returning to the United States in April, 1946, he briefly served as a Personnel Officer at the Coast Guard Training Center in Alameda, California, before his assignment as Navigator of the USCGC Taney.

He received a Master of Science degree in International Affairs from George Washington University in 1968.

His Coast Guard career highlights included serving as a deck officer afloat, as an aviator performing search and rescue patrols, and ashore in the law enforcement, marine safety and environmental protection fields. Other assignments included chief of the search and rescue branch in Juneau, Alaska, deputy chief of staff in Washington, and commanding officer at Air Station Miami, where the station received a Coast Guard unit commendation for Cuban exodus operations during October and November 1965.

From 1971 until his appointment as Commandant, he served as Commander of the St. Louis-based 2nd Coast Guard District.

During Siler's tenure as commandant he instituted a minority recruiting program and was instrumental in having women admitted to the United States Coast Guard Academy, making it the first of the military service academies to do so. He also oversaw the expansion of the Coast Guard's marine environmental protection program, with the passage of the Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976, to include an increase of the service's jurisdiction along the nation's coastline to more than two million square miles.

Following his retirement from the Coast Guard, he moved to Savannah, Georgia. He died from complications of heart failure at the age of 85 in Atlanta, Georgia, and was buried in Savannah.

See also

• Commandant of the Coast Guard

Notes

Citations

References cited

• "OBITUARY: ADM. OWEN W. SILER". Press Release Date: July, 18 2007. US Coast Guard Headquarters Office of Public Affairs. Retrieved 29 December 2012. 
• Lanning, Paul. "From the California Coast to Coast Guard Commandant:". Affinity Online: the magazine for California Community Colleges. Foundation for California Community Colleges. Retrieved 29 December 2012. 

External links

• United States Guard Biography

Military offices
Preceded by Chester R. Bender	Commandant of the Coast Guard 1974—1978	Succeeded by John B. Hayes