Coast Guard Foundation elects two new board members

(STONINGTON, Conn.) — The Coast Guard Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to the education and well-being of all Coast Guard members and their families, has added two new trustees to its board. Eric Nagel and Clayton Spikes will each serve three-year terms, commencing in 2020. The foundation currently has 77 active trustees and directors on the board, led by Will Jenkins as the chairman.

The Coast Guard Foundation board of directors and trustees governs the organization and promotes the Foundation’s mission of support to the United States Coast Guard. The board of trustees of the Coast Guard Foundation is responsible for the governance and management of the affairs, property and business of the Foundation. 

Nagel is a 1995 graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y. After graduating with a bachelor of science degree in marine transportation, he went on to sail in the U.S.-flag industry from 1995 through 2000. Transitioning ashore, he initially worked with Military Sealift Command in Washington, D.C., as a marine transportation specialist prior to serving in various capacities with ExxonMobil. In the end of 2006, Nagel transitioned to the foreign-flag side of the marine industry where he was with AET for almost 10 years gaining experience both in the United States around the company’s full-service lightering business as well as eight years shared between the company’s headquarters in Singapore and London. In 2015, Nagel joined Teekay Shipping and repatriated to Houston, Texas, to become the director of Atlantic Aframax and Global Support Services. 

Spikes received his bachelor’s degree in engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master’s degree in physics/oceanography from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. After an accomplished career, including two Vietnam tours, three years as military applications officer with the Office of Naval Research (ONR), European Office, and commanding officer of Oceanographic Unit Three, he moved to the private sector as COO of a small business. He was the at-sea test director for ONR’s Acoustic Technology Experiment Program for 14 years in which he was responsible for all facets of the sea tests in the North Pacific, including all ships, submarines and aircraft involved.

Spikes wrote the first environmental impact statement for a U.S. Navy operational system and was editor in chief for the first environmental compliance document produced for the European Union. Spikes also was program manager for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP). He was program director for the Egyptian SH-2G(E) Helicopter ASW Tactics Development and Training Program, wherein he performed in-country training to Egyptian Air Force pilots in support of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. As CEO, he continued as principal adviser to the chief of naval operations for all Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active (SURTASS LFA) and Compact LFA environmental compliance requirements, monitoring and mitigation procedures, and litigation support for dealing with the 9th District Court, San Francisco regarding LFA sonar.

To learn more about the Coast Guard Foundation or to help support its work, visit www.coastguardfoundation.org.
 

By Professional Mariner Staff