CDR Jim O'Mara

About

Commander James O'Mara, representing the US Coast Guard, was a National Security Affairs Fellow at the Hoover Institution for the 2018–19 academic year.

O’Mara has served in several operational command positions conducting search and rescue, counter‐narcotics, migrant interdiction, homeland security, defense operations, and living marine resource protection programs ranging from the Arctic to the equator, from Puerto Rico to the US Virgin Islands, and throughout the northern Arabian Gulf. He served as commanding officer of three patrol boats, has nine-plus years of sea time, and just recently completed a tour as operations officer aboard a National Security Cutter, the Coast Guard’s newest and most capable class of ships.

His policy and staff experience includes assignments as company officer at the US Coast Guard Academy and performance analyst in the Office of Performance Management at Coast Guard Headquarters, and as a maritime advisor deployed in Saudi Arabia.

A native of California, he earned his military commission and bachelor of science in government from the US Coast Guard Academy. He holds a master of public administration degree from George Washington University, master of arts in national security studies from the Naval War College, and a master of science in business continuity management from Norwich University.

His research at the Hoover Institution focused on U.S. Coast Guard role in the South China Sea, West Pacific, and Indo-Pacific, and how that plays into the National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy.