CAPTAIN JUAN TUDELA SALAS
UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
Captain Juan T. SALAS, the senior minority officer in the Coast Guard,
is currently the Deputy Assistant Commandant for Coast Guard Civil Rights.
He assumed this position in June 1996 after serving as the Deputy Commander,
Coast Guard Personnel Command. Captain SALAS was the first native from
Guam to attend and graduate from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1968 with
a BS degree in General Naval Engineering. He later obtained a Coast
Guard scholarship to earn a Master's Degree in Personnel Administration
from George Washington University.
An expert in recruiting and marketing, Captain SALAS served as the
Chief of the Military Recruiting Branch of the Twelfth Coast Guard District
in San Francisco, California from 1972 to 1974. Additionally, he served
as Chief of the Minority Recruiting Branch, Coast Guard Headquarters in
Washington DC, from 1976 to 1979.
His last recruiting assignment was as Chief of the Recruiting and Job
Entry Division at the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington DC from April
1989 to June 1992. There, he was responsible for all Coast Guard recruiting
programs and directed a force of 280 recruiters nationwide. He later
assumed command of the Coast Guard Marianas Section and Marine Safety Office
Guam, and served from 1992 to 1994.
Captain SALAS had an extensive and successful seagoing experience during
his career in the Coast Guard. He served on the cutters BASSWOOD
(1968-70), RED BIRCH (1970-72), RESOLUTE (1974-76) and UTE(1981-1983).
He assumed duty as the Officer In Charge of the Interdiction Operations
Intelligence Center for the Vice President's National Narcotics Border
Interdiction System in Miami, FL in 1983, serving in that capacity until
1986. He returned to Key West, FL in 1986 and assumed command of the Coast
Guard Cutter LIPAN. While aboard the LIPAN, Captain SALAS successfully
directed the interdiction and seizure of 4 smuggling vessels carrying a
total of over 20,000 lbs of marijuana and 5,500 lbs of cocaine.
Captain SALAS has been awarded 3 Meritorious Service Medals, 2 Coast
Guard Commendation Medals, a Coast Guard Achievement Medal and numerous
unit and operational awards. He is also an honorary AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE
for the territory of GUAM and is a past president of the Guam Society of
America in Washington, DC.
Captain SALAS is married to the former May Camacho Sanchez from Barrigada,
Guam. Juan and May have four children. Their oldest son,
LTJG Matthew SALAS, graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1996.
Send e-mail to JuanSalas@comdt.uscg.mil |
