Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Michael P. Leavitt, USCG (Ret.)
The Naval Order of the United States is proud to announce that Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Michael P. Leavitt, USCG (Ret.) will be recognized during our annual Congress in Jacksonville, Florida, as a recipient of the 2017 Distinguished Sea Service Award. Master Chief Leavitt served as the 11th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard from 2010-2014.
The Distinguished Sea Service Awards are given “to recognize the exemplary service of a senior flag officer and senior enlisted member of one of the maritime services, who has finished a continuous career of active service.”
MCPO Leavitt enlisted in the Coast Guard on 10 May 1982. During his Coast Guard career, he was assigned as the Officer in Charge of Coast Guard Cutter Point Doran, and Stations Maui, HI, Hatteras Inlet, NC, Ocracoke, NC, Humboldt Bay, CA, Tillamook Bay, OR, Cape Disappointment, Ilwaco, WA, the Executive Petty Officer of Coast Guard Cutter Kanawha and Station Siuslaw River, OR, and a crewmember of Coast Guard Cutters Boutwell and Naushon, and Stations Coos Bay, OR, and Umpqua River, OR.
At the time of his selection as the eleventh MCPOCG, MCPO Leavitt was serving as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Deputy Commandant for Operations at Coast Guard Headquarters.
MCPO Leavitt championed for the professional development, support, and welfare of Coast Guardsmen and their families. He focused Chief Petty Officers to lead the way on improving proficiency in craft, proficiency in leadership, and disciplined initiative, resulting in an improvement in operational safety and mission effectiveness across the service. Through testimony and engagement with Congress, MCPO Leavitt successfully advocated for authority and funding to improve the quality and accessibility of Coast Guard housing, access to affordable childcare services, and sustainment of educational benefits, all during a time of unprecedented operational and budgetary challenges. He led a comprehensive campaign designed to eliminate sexual assault from the service through an emphasis on command responsibility and deck plate leadership.
Master Chief Leavitt’s personal awards include the Coast Guard Medal, a Meritorious Service Medal with operational distinguishing device, five Coast Guard Commendation Medals with an operational distinguishing device, three Coast Guard Achievement Medals with an operational distinguishing device and numerous other individual and unit awards. He has also earned a permanent Cutterman insignia, Surfman insignia, Boat Forces Operations insignia, and both Command Afloat and Ashore devices.
A native of Fruitland, Idaho, Master Chief Leavitt holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and a Master of Arts Degree in Training and Education. He is also a graduate of Chief Petty Officer Academy Class 34.
“Professionally, my proudest moments during my career have come from working side-by-side with the young men and women that join the Coast Guard, teaching them and watching them excel. There’s nothing like getting a recruit out of boot camp, working with them to become a master of their profession and seeing them take that small boat out in heavy surf or launch that small boat off the cutter with precision and confidence. It makes you proud, watching them carry on the legacy of the people who came before and knowing that in some way you are a small part of that.
“Personally, my proudest accomplishment is that I have family and friends that support me in everything that I do. Above all, my wife Debbie and my three girls, Stephanie, Cassandra and Crystal, and my mom, Patricia Ann, have been there every step of the way in my Coast Guard career.”
Remarks by MCPOCG Michael Leavitt, 16 May 2014