CHIEF OF STAFF
CAPT Ulysses S. Mullins
Chief of Staff
Eighth Coast Guard District
Captain Mullins is the Chief of Staff, Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans, Louisiana. In this capacity he serves as the District Commander’s primary senior advisor and coordinates the engagements of the District Staff with field units, stakeholders, and higher headquarters offices to advance the District Commander’s objectives. The Eighth Coast Guard District oversees Coast Guard safety, security, and stewardship missions from the outer continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico, throughout the Gulf coast from the panhandle of Florida to our Nation’s border with Mexico, and further includes inland waterways of the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, and Tennessee River systems.
Captain Mullins has served in the U.S. Coast Guard for over 28 years. His prior assignment was Commander, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Mobile, AL he was responsible for 18 sub-units, including cutters, stations, Aids to Navigation Teams, and a Marine Safety Detachment spanning over 420 miles of coast and 1,900 miles of inland waterway across the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
Prior to Sector Mobile, Captain Mullins served as the Coast Guard Fourteenth District’s Prevention Division Chief, overseeing operations protecting the public, ports, the environment and U.S. economic interests in Hawai’i, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Japan and Singapore. His other field assignments include Deputy Commander and Prevention Department Head at Sector Honolulu, Chief of Vessel Inspections & Senior Investigating Officer at Marine Safety Office Pittsburgh, Assistant Chief of Commercial Vessel Inspections at Marine Safety Office Chicago and Marine Inspector at Marine Safety Office Hampton Roads.
His staff assignments include Critical Infrastructure Branch Chief and Acting Division Chief for the Office of Port and Facility Compliance, Acting Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) Program Manager, VTS Program Systems and Infrastructure Lead for the Office of Shore Forces, and Assistant Branch Chief for Investigations and Analysis at Coast Guard District Eight. Captain Mullins also completed Port Safety and Security Industry Training at the Port of New Orleans.
Captain Mullins led the U.S. Coast Guard’s initial efforts to implement Executive Order 13636 & Presidential Policy Directive 21 which directed federal agencies to incorporate cybersecurity and an all-hazards approach into the nation’s critical infrastructure protection policies. He served as the Incident Commander & Deputy Incident Commander leading multiple responses to hurricanes and commercial vessel groundings in Hawaii, American Samoa, Wake Island and other remote regions of the Pacific. He also initiated environmental enforcement efforts to combat the illegal discharge of oil in the Pacific Ocean. The intelligence driven operations leveraged federal, state, & territorial port partnerships resulting in 11 criminal prosecutions, $5.1million in penalties and injunctive relief against 53 vessels.
A native of New York City, Captain Mullins holds a Master of Science in Technology Management and General Services Administration Executive Chief Information Officer’s (CIO) Certificate from the University of Maryland Global Campus. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Hampton University. He is an alumnus of the Naval Post Graduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s Pacific Executive Leaders Program.
Captain Mullins’ personal military awards include five Meritorious Service Medals, two Coast Guard Achievement Medals, the Marine Safety Designator, and other personal and team awards.