LCDR Ed Swift, (USCG ret)
National President
Coast Guard Combat Veterans Association

Ed Swift was elected to his third (non-consecutive) term as CGCVA National President at the 2011 Convention Reunion. 

He also served one term as CGCVA National Vice President and has served as Editor of the CGCVA national magazine, Quarterdeck Log, since joining the CGCVA in 1993. 

Ed joined the Coast Guard in 1970 and, following graduation from Recruit Training at Cape May, he was assigned to the Ninth District Office in Cleveland, OH as a Seaman (Artist) to construct a closed-circuit television studio and produce training videos for district units.  He was temporarily reassigned to Whiskey Island Lifeboat Station where he became a Boatswain’s Mate and earned the Boat Coxswain designation.  Later he made a lateral change to the newly established rate of Photojournalist (PA) and worked in the Ninth District Public Affairs Office.  Other enlisted public affairs assignments included:  Fourteenth District Office, Honolulu, HI;  USCG Motion Picture & Television Office, Los Angeles, CA;  USCG Base Gloucester City, NJ; and USCG Academy, New London, CT, where he was promoted to CWO2 (INF).  His warrant officer assignments included:  USCG Atlantic Area/Third District New York, NY and USCG Headquarters Recruiting Advertising, where he was promoted to Lieutenant.  He then served as Public Affairs Officer in the Ninth District Office, Cleveland, OH where he trained with Port Security Unit 302 and deployed to Bahrain in 1991 during Operations Desert Shield/Storm.  He was later reassigned to the USCG Headquarters Public Affairs Office and produced the service’s flagship magazine, Commandant’s Bulletin. 

Following promotion to Lieutenant Commander he was assigned as Operations Officer at the USCG Recruiting Command in Arlington, VA.  Ed retired as a Lieutenant Commander in May 2000 after more than 30 years active-duty service.