In many territories and countries worldwide the Chief Coastguard is the highest ranking officer of the Coastguard Service. Chief Coastguards are responsible for the policy, planning and execution of a Coastguard Service. In some countries this means that the Chief Coastguard is defacto Chief Executive officer of the Coastguard Service, although more commonly the Chief Coastguard reports to a government minister or executive agency, board or committee.

HM Chief Coastguard (United Kingdom)

Function

In the United Kingdom, the head of the operational Coastguard service

Her Majesty's Coastguard

Her Majesty's Coastguard is the service of the government of the United Kingdom concerned with co-ordinating air-sea rescue.HM Coastguard is a section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible for the initiation and co-ordination of all civilian maritime Search and Rescue within the UK...

 bears the title "Her Majesty's Chief Coastguard", usually shortened to simply "Chief Coastguard". When in uniform he or she wears rank markings similar to those of a Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

 in the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. The Chief Coastguard is the most senior member of the Coastguard service; he or she reports to the Chief Executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (who is a civil servant, and not an operational coastguard), who in turn reports direct to the United Kingdom Government through the Secretary of State for Transport.

According to the official website of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is a UK executive agency working to prevent the loss of lives at sea and is responsible for implementing British and International maritime law and safety policy.This involves coordinating search and rescue at sea through Her Majesty's Coastguard , ensuring that...

, the functions of the Chief Coastguard are to co-ordinate five main tasks:

• to initiate and co-ordinate civil maritime search and rescue within the UK Search and Rescue Region
• to initiate and co-ordinate counter-pollution measures to minimise the impact of pollution on the sea and shoreline
• to ensure the public interest is fully taken into account when an accident to a ship might require salvage or other emergency action
• to maintain contingency plans for dealing with major maritime incidents within UK waters
• to develop and promote a sea safety and SAR Prevention strategy

Recent office holders

Peter Dymond retired from the office of Chief Coastguard in 2009, and was awarded the OBE for his meritorious service. He was replaced by Chief Coastguard Rod Johnson, who is the current holder of the office.

Chief Coastguard's Commendation (award)

Members of HM Coastguard are entitled to receive long service awards after stated periods of continuous service, but the Chief Coastguard is empowered to award the additional "Chief Coastguard's Commendation" as an award for bravery, or for exceptionally meritorious service. There are usually several annual awards of such commendations. During 2009, for example, a total of six awards were made.