Omega's First Coast Guard Admiral

Brother (Rear Admiral [lower half]) Manson K. Brown is a native of Washington, DC. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1978 with a Bachelors of Science degree in Civil Engineering. Rear Admiral Brown holds a Masters of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a Masters of Science degree in National Resources Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is a registered professional civil engineer. He assumed command of Maintenance & Logistics Command Pacific in June 2006.

Previous tours of duty include Assistant Engineering Officer in USCGC GLACIER, Project Engineer at Civil Engineering Unit Miami, Deputy Group Commander at Coast Guard Group Mayport, Engineering Assignment Officer in the Officer Personnel Division at Coast Guard Headquarters, Facilities Engineer at Support Center Alameda, and Assistant Chief, Civil Engineering Division at Maintenance & Logistics Command Pacific.

Rear Admiral Brown’s previous commands include Commander, Coast Guard Sector Honolulu and Commander, Coast Guard Group Charleston. From 1999 to 2002, he served as the Military Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation (DOT), including duty as the Acting Deputy Chief of Staff for six months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In May 2003, he served as the Chief of Officer Personnel Management at the Coast Guard Personnel Command. From April to July 2004, he was temporarily assigned as the Senior Advisor for Transportation to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq. Working in a combat zone, he oversaw restoration of Iraq’s major transportation systems, including two major ports.

Rear Admiral Brown’s military decorations include the U.S. Transportation Secretary’s Gold Medal, Legion of Merit, four Meritorious Service Medals, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, the Transportation 9-11 Medal, three Coast Guard Achievement Medals, the Iraq Campaign Medal and several other personal and unit awards. In 1994, Rear Admiral Brown was honored as the first recipient of the Coast Guard’s Captain John G. Witherspoon Award for Inspirational Leadership.

Brother Brown entered the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. through our Chapter in Seaside California in 1984.  He has served in several leadership positions within Omega.  He recently spoke on leadership at Omega International Leadership Conference conducted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2007. Brother ADM Brown is Omega's first flag officer in the United States Coast Guard. He continues to serve our dear Omega as “all real men do”.

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