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Name
Commander Don Terkanian
Title
Chief of our Drug and Migrant Interdiction Division, U.S. Coast Guard Office of Law Enforcement Policy
Bio
Commander Donald M. Terkanian, Jr. has served as the Chief of Drug and Migrant Interdiction in the USCG Office of Maritime Law
Enforcement since September 2020.
He has served more than 11 years at sea in six cutters, commanding four of them. He began his afloat career as Deck Watch Officer in USCGC CAMPBELL (WMEC 909), then subsequently commanded USCGC MANOWAR (WPB 87330), USCGC AQUIDNECK (WPB 1309), and USCGC JEFFERSON ISLAND (WPB 1340). He then served as Executive Officer in USCGC SENECA (WMEC 906), and most recently commanded USCGC BEAR (WMEC 901). He led missions in a wide variety of operational disciplines and geographic areas, including fisheries enforcement in New England, drug and migrant interdiction in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, maritime security operations in the Northern Arabian Gulf in support of Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM, and port security in the Gulf of Mexico in the years immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In between afloat tours, Commander Terkanian served as Search and Rescue Controller and Command Duty Officer for the First Coast Guard District in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Deputy Chief of Atlantic Area Cutter Forces, and commanded Training Team East in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Commander Terkanian received his commission from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2000. Personal awards include three Meritorious Service Medals, three CG Commendation Medals, the 911 Transportation Medal, three CG Achievement Medals, and the Iraq Campaign Medal.
CDR Terkanian has served for nearly 21 years in the US Coast Guard (USCG). He has spent more than half of this time in Coast Guard Cutters, patrolling areas of the world including the Gulf of Mexico, Coastal New England and Georges Bank, the Caribbean Sea, the Eastern Pacific Ocean, and the Arabian Gulf. His current duties as Drug and Migrant Interdiction Division Chief include, among others, strategic development and execution of USCG interdiction policy, and facilitation of US Government inter-
agency coordination in complex interdiction cases.
Enforcement since September 2020.
He has served more than 11 years at sea in six cutters, commanding four of them. He began his afloat career as Deck Watch Officer in USCGC CAMPBELL (WMEC 909), then subsequently commanded USCGC MANOWAR (WPB 87330), USCGC AQUIDNECK (WPB 1309), and USCGC JEFFERSON ISLAND (WPB 1340). He then served as Executive Officer in USCGC SENECA (WMEC 906), and most recently commanded USCGC BEAR (WMEC 901). He led missions in a wide variety of operational disciplines and geographic areas, including fisheries enforcement in New England, drug and migrant interdiction in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, maritime security operations in the Northern Arabian Gulf in support of Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM, and port security in the Gulf of Mexico in the years immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In between afloat tours, Commander Terkanian served as Search and Rescue Controller and Command Duty Officer for the First Coast Guard District in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Deputy Chief of Atlantic Area Cutter Forces, and commanded Training Team East in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Commander Terkanian received his commission from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2000. Personal awards include three Meritorious Service Medals, three CG Commendation Medals, the 911 Transportation Medal, three CG Achievement Medals, and the Iraq Campaign Medal.
CDR Terkanian has served for nearly 21 years in the US Coast Guard (USCG). He has spent more than half of this time in Coast Guard Cutters, patrolling areas of the world including the Gulf of Mexico, Coastal New England and Georges Bank, the Caribbean Sea, the Eastern Pacific Ocean, and the Arabian Gulf. His current duties as Drug and Migrant Interdiction Division Chief include, among others, strategic development and execution of USCG interdiction policy, and facilitation of US Government inter-
agency coordination in complex interdiction cases.
