Home / Academics / The Office of Scholarship, Research, and Innovation / Center for Arctic Study and Policy / Mr. Roger T. Rufe, Jr.

Mr. Roger T. Rufe, Jr.

Vice Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)

Fellow

Vice Admiral Roger Rufe currently serves as a conservation and environmental policy consultant. In this capacity, he is providing strategic advice on addressing the safety and environmental threats posed by increased shipping activity in the Arctic. He also serves as a Fellow of the Center for Arctic Study and Policy at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

During his 34 year Coast Guard career, Vice Admiral Rufe served as captain of five Coast Guard cutters, was vice chairman of the interagency National Response Team, chief of the Coast Guard Congressional Affairs Staff and a U.S. delegate to the Marine Environment Protection Committee of the International Maritime Organization in London. As a flag officer, he commanded the 17th Coast Guard District in Alaska with responsibility for the North Pacific and the U.S. Arctic and the 7th Coast Guard District in Miami with responsibility for waters of the Southeast U.S. and the Caribbean. He then led the Coast Guard’s two largest field commands first as Commander, Pacific Area and later Commander, Atlantic Area.

After retirement from the Coast Guard, Vice Admiral Rufe became President and CEO of Ocean Conservancy, a national environmental non-government organization that advocates for science-based ocean conservation and protection of marine wildlife. He was a director of the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, a director of the International SeaKeepers Society and a member of the Pew Oceans Commission.

He left Ocean Conservancy to serve a three year secretarial term appointment as the first Director of the Office of Operations Coordination and Planning at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Vice Admiral Rufe earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a Master in Public Administration degree from New York University and is a graduate of the National War College and the Naval War College. He is a past President of the National War College Alumni Association Board of Directors and a chairman emeritus of the Association for Rescue at Sea. In 2015, he was named that year’s Distinguished Alumnus of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy.

Sponsor Family Application

Thank you for submitting your application to be part of the Sponsor Family Program. Your application will be processed in the upcoming week. Coast Guard Academy’s policy on background screening now requires all adults (everyone 18 and older living in the home) who volunteer to mentor, teach, coach or sponsor cadets, whether on or off Coast Guard Academy grounds, to be screened every 5 years. They are required to provide personal information (name, birth date and social security number) for the purpose of conducting a criminal background check.

The Security Officer at the Coast Guard Academy, CWO2 Gina Polkowski, is overseeing this process. Her email is: Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.

Sponsor Family designations fall into several different categories. Below are the guidelines to help you determine how best to meet the background screening requirement:

If you are Coast Guard active duty you do not need to apply for an additional Background Check. You will be vetted through the Coast Guard system by CWO2 Polkowski.
If you are a Civilian working for the Coast Guard you do not need to apply for an additional Background Check. You will be vetted through the Coast Guard system by CWO2 Polkowski.
If you are non-Coast Guard Active Duty, you are required to provide proof of your current security clearance or National Agency Check that is to be emailed by your Command Security Officer (CSO)/ Security Office to CWO2 Polkowski at Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.
If you are non-Coast Guard civilian who has a current security clearance or National Agency check, you are required to provide proof of your current security clearance or National Agency Check that is to be emailed by your Command Security Officer (CSO)/ Security Office to CWO2 Polkowski at Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.
All civilians in the families who are 18 years or older and do not have a security clearance or a National Agency Check are required to be vetted through Mind Your Business, the third party vendor hired by the Coast Guard Academy for the vetting process.

After you complete your application, please e-mail the Sponsor Family Program Coordinator at CadetFamilySponsorProgram@uscga.edu. In your e-mail, you must include the e-mail address and phone number of every adult living in the home. The Sponsor Family Coordinator will then initiate the background check process and you will receive an email with further instructions.

Important things to note:

There is a Sponsor Family Training that is a one-hour training which we ask sponsors to attend once every four years. This training is designed to give you an overview of the program, what is expected of you as a sponsor, and what you can expect from your cadets. This training will also help familiarize you with the cadet regulations onboard CGA. You will be notified via e-mail once the training is scheduled.

The matching process of swabs to families will occur during July and August. Please bear with us and remain flexible through this process. There will be a meet and greet scheduled on Campus, typically in late August. This will give families an opportunity to formally meet their cadet if they have not already done so. Details on this will also be via email.