President Barack Obama announced
Tuesday
he would nominate Vice Admiral of the Coast Guard, Peter Neffenger to be the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) top administrator.
Shortly after this announcement, Homeland Security
Department
Secretary
Jeh Johnson released a statement urging Congress to complete the approval process.
“Pete Neffenger is one of the brightest and most capable flag officers in the U.S. military I have ever met,” Johnson said. “His 30-year record in the Coast Guard includes service as deputy national incident commander for the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, as well as sector commander and federal maritime security coordinator for the mega-ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. I have no doubt that his skills, intellect and energy that have up to now been devoted to maritime security will be easily translatable to aviation security.”
The TSA administrator oversees 50,000 personnel and interacts with the public on a regular basis. Former TSA Administrator James Loy was a commandant of the Coast Guard before he took up the TSA post.
Neffenger has served as the vice commandant since May of 2014 and previously served as a deputy for operations, which involved direction of resource allocation, strategy, policy matters and management of Coast Guard forces nationwide.
