Rear Admiral Meredith Austin assumed the duties of the Coast Guard Deputy for Operations, Policy and Capabilities in August 2018. In this capacity, she is responsible for establishing and providing operational strategy, policy, capability and resources to meet national priorities for U.S. Coast Guard missions, programs and services.

Rear Admiral Austin has held several commands including Fifth District Commander, responsible for maritime safety and security missions carried out in the Mid-Atlantic region; Sector Delaware Bay, executing the Coast Guard’s 11 statutory missions along the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania; the Pacific Strike Team and the National Strike Force, responding to oil and hazardous substance spills and threats from Weapons of Mass Destruction in support of Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Defense On-Scene Coordinators throughout the United States, its territories, and other nations.

Rear Admiral Austin is a 1985 graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy with a degree in Marine Science. She earned a Master of Science in Public Health in Industrial Hygiene from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1994 and a Master of Arts in Homeland Security from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in 2007. Rear Admiral Austin is a NIMS certified Type I Incident Commander, and has earned the designations of Certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified Emergency Manager.