Master Chief Charles W. "Skip" Bowen was the tenth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard.
Master Chief Charles W. Bowen was last assigned as the Officer in Charge of Coast Guard Station Marathon. After attending basic training at Cape May, NJ in 1978, his first duty station was to a patrol boat, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter POINT SWIFT in Clearwater, Fl. From there he was assigned to Coast Guard Station Marathon in the Florida Keys just in time for the Mariel, Cuba boatlift in 1980. A subsequent assignment at Station Fort Pierce, Fl was followed by another patrol boat, this time the newly commissioned U.S. Coast Guard Cutter FARALLON, out of Miami. From South Florida he traveled to the Mid-Atlantic seaboard to join the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter POINT ARENA as the Executive Petty Officer. Upon advancing to Chief Petty Officer he was assigned as the Officer in Charge of Station New Haven, CT in June 1990. Following a successful tour at New Haven, he was transferred to Station Sand Key in Clearwater Beach, Fl in 1994. In 1997, it was back to the Northeast where he was assigned as the Officer in Charge of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter POINT TURNER in Newport, RI until her decommissioning in April 1998. During May, 1998 he was assigned as the Officer in Charge of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter HAMMERHEAD, based in Woods Hole, MA and the first of the High Tech 87 foot Patrol Boats on the East Coast. From 1999 to 2001 Master Chief Bowen served as the District Seven Command Master Chief. In May 2002, Master Chief Bowen graduated with distinction from the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy. While at the Academy, he was selected as one of the few non-Army students ever to serve as a class Vice President. Upon graduation, he was awarded the prestigious, "William G. Bainbridge Chair of Ethics Award." From June 2002 to June 2004 Master Chief Bowen served as the Command Master Chief of Headquarters' Units. In addition to those duties, he also served as the Interim Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard from July 2002 through October 2002.
Master Chief Bowen’s personal awards include the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal, four Meritorious Service Medals with "O" device, four Coast Guard Commendation Medals with "O" device, three Coast Guard Achievement Medals with "O" device, Commandant’s Letter of Commendation, six Meritorious Team Commendation Awards with "O" device, two Coast Guard Unit Commendations with "O" device, seven Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations with "O" device, and the Coast Guard Sea Service Ribbon with two stars.
Master Chief Bowen’s educational accomplishments include a Bachelor of Science Degree, "Magna Cum Laude" from Excelsior College and a Master of Business Administration “Summa Cum Laude” from Touro University International.