Vivien Suzanne Crea[2] (born 1952)[1] was the 25th Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard under Admiral Thad W. Allen. Vice Commandant is the second highest position in the Coast Guard, and she was the first woman to hold it. She is the former Commander of the Coast Guard Atlantic Area, and was confirmed by the Senate to her historic post in June 2006. Crea retired on August 7, 2009, and was replaced by VADM David Pekoske.
As a Lieutenant Commander, she became the first woman from any service, as well as the first service member from the US Coast Guard to serve as the Presidential Military Aide, where she carried the nuclear football for President Ronald Reagan for three years.[8]
Crea assumed command of Coast Guard Atlantic Area on July 16, 2004. This post is the operational commander for all Coast Guard activities in an area of responsibility spanning five Coast Guard Districts, over 14,000,000 square miles (36,000,000 km2) covering the Eastern and Midwestern United States from the Rocky Mountains to Maine and Mexico, out across the Atlantic and through the Caribbean Sea, involving over 33,000 military and civilian employees, and 30,000 auxiliarists. She served concurrently as Commander, Coast Guard Defense Force East.
Crea previously served as Commander, First Coast Guard District, overseeing all Coast Guard operations in the Northeastern United States, from the Maine-Canada border to Northern New Jersey. Prior to that she served as Director of Information and Technology of the Coast Guard as chief information officer and oversaw the Coast Guard’s Research and Development program.
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