Professional Affiliation

Assistant Deputy Commandant for Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Coast Guard

Expert Bio

Rear Admiral Pat DeQuattro assumed the duties of Coast Guard Deputy for Operations, Policy and Capabilities in June 2020. In this capacity, he is responsible for establishing and providing operational strategy, policy, capability and resources to meet national priorities for U.S. Coast Guard missions, programs and services.

He most recently served as the Director for Joint Interagency Task Force South where he was responsible for all-resource fusion and employment of joint, interagency, and international capabilities to interdict illicit trafficking posing a threat to national security and regional stability. Other distinguished assignments include Deputy Commander, U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area in Alameda, California, and Deputy Commander, U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was responsible for all U.S. Coast Guard missions spanning from the Rocky Mountains west across the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to the waters of the East Coast of Africa and from the Rocky Mountains eastward to the Arabian Gulf.

Previous shore assignments included: Executive Director to the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, DC; Commander of Sector Key West, Florida; Chief of Response Operations at Sector San Francisco, California; Commanding Officer of the Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team in San Diego, California; and tours as a design engineer and project manager at Civil Engineering Units in Oakland, California and Providence, Rhode Island.

His shipboard assignments included: Commanding Officer of USCGC SANIBEL in Woods Hole, Massachusetts; Executive Officer in USCGC BARANOF in Miami Beach, Florida; and weapons officer aboard USCGC VALIANT in Galveston, Texas.

Rear Admiral DeQuattro has represented the Coast Guard as a Congressional Fellow to the U.S. House of Representatives, as a Military Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, and as the Coast Guard Aide to Presidents William J. Clinton and George W. Bush at the White House.

Rear Admiral DeQuattro is a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and holds a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois. He is a graduate of the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff seminar program and served as the 2008 Coast Guard Federal Executive Fellow at RAND’s National Defense Research Institute in Santa Monica, California.

His personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Coast Guard Commendation Medal, the Coast Guard Achievement Medal, various service and unit awards, and the Presidential Service Badge.