U.S. Coast Guard Chief Information Officer Rear Adm. Robert Day is stepping down from his post. (Photo: FedScoop/David Stegon)Rear Adm. Robert E. Day Jr., chief information officer of the Coast Guard, plans to retire in July, FedScoop has learned.
A Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed Day’s retirement, but had no further details on his plans.
Day took the post of CIO in 2009, and has simultaneously served as assistant commandant for Command, Control, Communications, Computers & Information Technology and as commander of the Coast Guard’s Cyber Command.
The last several years of his tenure have been marked by great changes in technology and major challenges to the Coast Guard’s ability to maintain modernization and readiness efforts. In an interview last year with FedScoop, Day acknowledged that cybersecurity, mobility and budget pressures were the three issues driving what he characterized as a sensitive balancing act.
“Then there’s the budget working against us right now, and it’s going to slow down some of the modernization of some of the systems we have out there,” Day said. “It’s balancing all of these challenges and balancing the workforce, so I’ve got plenty to do. But at the same time, I wake up every morning after almost 34 years of service and I look forward to getting to work each and every day. It’s a good challenge, and say ‘there’s plenty to do.’”
Day has also served as the chief of planning and budget for the Electronics Systems Division at Maintenance and Logistics Command Pacific, and he commanded the Coast Guard’s largest Electronic Systems Support Unit in Boston, overseeing electronics and communications support to the John F. Kennedy Jr. aircraft crash, the Egypt Air 900 air disaster, and the response to the Sept. 11th World Trade Center terrorist attack.
