Phillip N. Waldron achieves highest enlisted position in the U.S. Coast Guard.
In a ceremony on July 25 in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Coast Guard installed Plant City native Phillip N. Waldron as the 15th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard (MCPOCG). The MCPOCG is the most senior enlisted member of the Coast Guard. This branch of the U.S. military created the position to provide the Commandant with an advisor and assistant in matters affecting enlisted Coast Guard personnel and their families. Waldron is stationed in Washington, D.C., and working to shape policy and keep the Coast Guard moving. The normal tour for this assignment is four years, and runs at the same time as a Commandant’s tenure.
When Waldron graduated from Plant City High school in 1999, he chose to enter the Coast Guard as a machinery technician. He is a second-generation Coast Guardsman. “I knew I wanted to serve since a very young age, having been exposed by my father also serving,” Waldron said. “It was the lifesaving mission of the Coast Guard that was most appealing to me. That was what got me in. What kept me in was the diversity of opportunities every assignment afforded. It’s pretty awesome to think that since joining, I’ve been fortunate enough to sail the waters off the coast of Iraq, break ice in the Arctic Ocean, repair damage in Panama City, FL, only hours after Hurricane Michael made landfall, and lead rescue boat crews in the Great Lakes, to name just a few. It isn’t always an easy lifestyle by any means, but it’s one I wouldn’t trade for the world!”
In the 26 years since Waldron joined, he has served at Station Belle Isle in Michigan, on the USCGC Wrangell in Bahrain for Operation Iraqi Freedom, on the USCGC Adak in Bahrain for Operation New Dawn, on the USCGC Buckthorn, at Sector Mobile in Alabama, at Base Kodiak, and in the Arctic District. From machinery technician, he continued on to serve as a recruit company commander (known as a drill instructor in other branches of the military), assistant engineer petty officer, engineer petty officer, assistant engineer officer, and command master chief. In his assignment as command senior enlisted leader at the Personnel Service Center, he advised on the effects of policy on the Coast Guard workforce. Waldron also graduated summa cum laude from Columbia Southern University, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Organizational Leadership.
Waldron has earned the right to wear permanent Cutterman, Coxswain, Boat Forces Operations, Company Commander, and Command Master Chief insignias. His military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Coast Guard Commendation Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal, Commandant’s Letter of Commendation, Iraq Campaign Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. While serving in the Middle East, he conducted 40 high-risk ship boardings, which earned him the United Service Organizations’ Coast Guardsman of the Year Award in 2008.
When Waldron was growing up in Plant City, “He was very much into mechanical stuff,” His father said. “He was always interested in that. He was very bright. He worked on cars and anything dealing with mechanical. He was very oriented toward that world. He has always been very, very on top of his job. His attitude is, ‘No matter what job you have, if they ask you to give 100 percent, give 110 percent.’ I am very proud of him. I am proud of how he succeeded in the Coast Guard. I never had a doubt he would.”
An admiral to whom Waldron previously reported endorsed him for MCPOCG, “Due to his relatability to the workforce, ability to balance candor and grace, and a deep understanding of the challenges the workforce at large faces.” Since Waldron has had several tours of duty at some of the more remote and challenging locations the Coast Guard serves, the experiences give him a true understanding of what the impact of decisions made in Washington may look like to enlistedCoastGuardsmen stationed around the world.
“The new role brings a blend of excitement for the future and slight trepidation,” Waldron said. “Excitement in being in a position of leadership as the Coast Guard undergoes its most transformational period in our 235-year history, and trepidation because I believe that, as the senior enlisted member representing a 45,000 person organization, the position must be undertaken with the utmost humility and respect, with no room for arrogance or self-serving desire. My primary goals over the next four years are: 1. Guiding the service as we grow the force by 15,000 people, transform our organizational structure, and acquire many new ships, boats and aircraft. 2. In the current geopolitical state, readiness of the crew must be a paramount consideration, and, as such, is a top priority for me. This includes unit, material, personal, and family readiness.”
A different Plant City native, Chester Bender, a four-star admiral, served as the commandant of the Coast Guard from 1970 to 1974. Plant City is the only municipality to have produced both a commandant and a MCPOCG.
