Captain J. Kipling Louttit is a Surface Operations Specialist who has served in a variety of afloat and shore assignments on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, Alaska and Hawaii. He is currently Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Integrated Support Command San Pedro on Terminal Island, which is home to 16 Coast Guard units and supports more than 2,000 Coast Guard people and 40 Coast Guard units from Morro Bay to San Diego, and in Arizona and Southern Nevada.

Upon graduating from the Coast Guard Academy in 1979, Captain Louttit reported aboard CGC MELLON (WHEC 717) in Honolulu as a Deck Watch Officer, and subsequently cross-decked to CGC MUNRO (WHEC 724). Following assignment as Commanding Officer of CGC POINT STUART (WPB 82358) in San Diego, California, from 1981 to 1983, he served as Executive Officer of CG Training Team One based in Alameda, CA from 1983 to 1986. This unit trained afloat units in navigation, damage control, law enforcement, first aid, and search and rescue.

Captain Louttit returned to sea in 1986, assuming command of CGC MUSTANG (WPB 1310), the first West Coast 110’ patrol boat, transiting from Lockport, LA to Seward, AK via the Panama Canal. From 1988-1991, Captain Louttit was Coast Guard Liaison to the U.S. Naval Amphibious School in Little Creek, Virginia, teaching shiphandling to the Navy and boathandling to the Marine Corps. Returning to sea as Executive Officer of CGC HARRIET LANE (WMEC 903), Captain Louttit rescued more than 1,400 Haitians during the mass migrations of 1991 and 1992, with as many as 492 Haitians aboard at one time.

Following a three-year assignment in Coast Guard Headquarters where he served in the office of the Chief of Staff, preparing, presenting, and defending the Coast Guard’s budget to the Congress, Captain Louttit took command of CGC SPENCER (WMEC 905) in 1996. During Captain Louttit’s tour, SPENCER and her crew patrolled from Colombia to Canada, rescued 37 people, seized 257 pounds of marijuana and 1,400 kg of cocaine; earned a “clean sweep” of all six operational excellence awards; and represented the Coast Guard at Fleet Week in New York.

Captain Louttit was a Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a Master of Science in Management Degree in 1999. He then served a year in CG Headquarters managing Human Resources and starting the Readiness Management System (RMS), a year at Atlantic Area in Portsmouth, VA as Project Manager of the RMS, 18 months as Chief of the CG’s Budget (G-CBU), and 3 months as Deputy Chief of Staff (G-CCSd). In December 2002, Captain Louttit was detailed to the Department of Homeland Security and was appointed to be the first Acting Departmental Budget Director, overseeing the entire $40 Billion DHS Budget.

Captain Louttit’s personal awards include the Legion of Merit, two Meritorious Service Medals, two Commendation Medals, the Coast Guard and Navy Achievement Medals, two Letters of Commendation, and the permanent Cutterman’s insignia. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ocean Engineering and a 2nd Master of Science degree in Human Resources Management.

Captain Louttit married Dr. Wendy Jacoby Louttit, who has a Doctorate in Strategic Planning and earned the Coast Guard Public Service Commendation in 1997. They are both natives of New York, have 2 children, Benjamin (6) and Caroline (4), and live at the Coast Guard’s Point Vicente Lighthouse quarters.