Rear Admiral Hathaway is a 33 year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1974 and retired from active duty in 2007. He is currently the president of Security Shield Associates, providing a broad range of specialized consulting services to private sector and government clients. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Navy Safe Harbor Foundation, a charitable non-profit organization that provides “wounded warrior” type support to sailors, Coast Guard personnel and their families
From 2004-2007 Rear Admiral Hathaway served as Director, Joint Interagency Task Force South in Key West, Florida, leading the Nation’s premier international counter-narcotics effort, coordinating the efforts of Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice and Intelligence Community resources, as well as over a dozen international partner nations. While serving in U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters from 2003-2004 as the Director of Coast Guard Operations Policy, he oversaw doctrine and policy guidance to a broad array of Coast Guard missions, including maritime law enforcement, homeland security and defense operations, search and rescue and national boating safety, as well as spearheading efforts to integrate Coast Guard operations into the new Department of Homeland Security. Rear Admiral Hathaway’s initial flag assignment from 2001-2003 was unique as he was assigned to the Navy Pentagon N3/5 staff as the Navy’s first Director of Anti-Terrorism and Force Protection as well as serving as an Assistant Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Rear Admiral Hathaway’s Pentagon staff suffered overwhelming losses as a result of the 9/11/2001 attack on the Pentagon. His personal story, which generated the book’s title, is contained in, Rogue Wave – The U.S. Coast Guard on and after 9/11.
Rear Admiral Hathaway’s other shore assignments included duty as Executive Director of the U.S. Interdiction Coordinator staff from 1999-2001 and as Chief of the Coast Guard’s Congressional and Governmental Affairs staff from 1996-1999. He also served as the first military assistant assigned to the Secretary of Transportation from 1989-1991.
Rear Admiral Hathaway has extensive seagoing operational experience, including command of three major Coast Guard cutters, USCGC MUNRO, USCGC LEGARE and USCGS CITRUS, leading deployments from Alaska’s Bering Sea to the southern Caribbean Sea. Aboard LEGARE, he served as maritime task unit commander during two mass Haitian migration episodes and while commanding MUNRO executed the rescue of all 29 crewmembers from a burning container ship disabled in 50 foot seas during a savage winter storm 500 miles south of the Aleutian Islands.
In addition to earning a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Rear Admiral Hathaway also holds a Masters degree of Business Administration from the University of California at Irvine (1983), as well as a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (1994) (now the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security & Resource Strategy). His military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (5 awards), Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards) as well as numerous other personal, unit and campaign awards.
Rear Admiral Hathaway is a native of Whittier, California. He is married to the former Rebecca Haviland of Youngstown, Ohio. Becky served in the Navy Nurse Corps for 29 years. They have four grown children and reside in Centreville, Virginia.