Adm. Allen Rumored to Head CG

According to UPI, an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that when the head of the U.S. Coast Guard steps down in May, the White House will be nominating Coast Guard chief of staff Vice Adm. Thad Allen to the position. Allen -- who burnished his reputation, and that of the agency, when he stepped in to take control of post-Katrina recovery operations from the disgraced and later fired head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michael Brown – is said to be the most qualified candidate. UPI reported that Allen had been a favorite inside the agency long before his military bearing and take-charge manner helped reassure Americans that the Gulf Coast disaster area was in safe hands when he replaced Brown as the principle federal official responsible for the recovery effort. Allen’s first job as an admiral was as the Coast Guard's director of resources, where he wrote the agency's budget and developed long range plans. He then went on to command the Coast Guard's Seventh District, covering South Carolina, Georgia, most of Florida and the Caribbean. After a year there, Allen became commander of the agency's Atlantic Area, effectively overseeing the two-thirds of the Coast Guard based east of the Rockies. (Source: www.upi.com)