Vice Admiral Benedict Louis Stabile was promoted to Vice Admiral and became Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard in May, 1982 after serving three years as Commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Miami, Florida.
At Miami Stabile, as Rear Admiral, directed Coast Guard operations to stem the flow of illegal drugs and illegal aliens into the southeast United States. His command in Miami included U.S. Navy and Coast Guard forces deployed during the Cuban Exodus (Mariel Boatlift) operation in 1980.
He rose to flag rank in 1977 and served as Chief of the Office of Engineering at Coast Guard Headquarters from 1977 to 1979.
A 1950 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, Vice Admiral Stabile did postgraduate work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1953 to 1956, earning a degree in Naval Engineering. He has held various engineering positions in the Coast Guard’s Eighth District (New Orleans, Louisiana) and Fifth District (Portsmouth, Virginia). He served as Chief of the Ocean Engineering Division at Headquarters (1970-1973) and as Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland (19175-1977).
From 1973 to 1975 Vice Admiral Stabile was Commanding Officer of the high endurance cutter Melon, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also served aboard the cutters Unimak, Castle Rock, Reliance, and the polar icebreaker Eastwind.
Vice Admiral Stabile retired on June 1, 1986.
Vice Admiral Stabile’s decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (three times) and the Coast Guard Commendation Medal.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, he is married to the former Barbara Adele T. of Flushing, New York, a graduate of the Connecticut College for Women. The Stabiles have four children: Janet T., Bennet R., Gale V., and Roderick T.