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Home : Leadership : Biographies : Article View

Director, Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF West)

Rear Admiral Bob Little, U.S. Coast Guard

Rear Admiral Bob Little is the 20th Director, Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF West). RDML Lower Half (RDML) Little has served aboard six Coast Guard Cutters, accumulating over 13 years of sea time conducting defense operations, combating criminal networks, securing maritime borders, and safeguarding global commerce. His most recent afloat command was the Cutter STRATTON, among the most capable and technologically advanced ships in the Coast Guard’s surface fleet. STRATTON was RDML Little’s third afloat command, following the cutters DEPENDABLE and KUKUI. Combined with tours aboard Cutters ELM, NANTUCKET, and THETIS, he has operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific areas of operations conducting the full range of Coast Guard missions. He has led numerous combined military and law enforcement operations afloat to strengthen relationships with allies and partners around the globe.      

RDML Little has also served in several shore-based staff tours, most recently as the Executive Assistant to the Commandant of the Coast Guard. In this capacity, he was a principal advisor on policy, strategy, and resource initiatives across all operational and mission support activities. He provided decision support, advice, and recommendations to shape strategic direction, policy, and enterprise communications to advance Service objectives.  He served as the Chief of Maritime Forces for the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area.  In this role, he was responsible for providing mission ready cutters and aircraft to Coast Guard and Combatant Commanders in support of national strategic priorities. Other staff assignments included Special Assistant to the 28th Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, Appropriations Manager in the Office of Resource Management, and as Deputy Comptroller at the Coast Guard’s Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia. 

RDML Little is a 1995 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Management.  He has been awarded a Master of Business Administration by both the College of William and Mary and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  He is a 2012 graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and in 2015 completed the Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

RDML Little is married to the former Kerry Anne Sullivan of Boston, MA.  They are the proud parents of daughters Christina, Julia, and Katie.