Captain Chad M. Cary, NOAA
Director, NOAA Commissioned Personnel Center
Captain Chad M. Cary, NOAA
Director, NOAA Commissioned Personnel Center
Captain Chad M. Cary has proudly served NOAA and the Nation for over 19 years. He is currently the Director, Commissioned Personnel Center where he leads an office that supports the NOAA Corps and civilian workforces. CAPT Cary's command philosophy is to foster a safe work environment, form an inclusive charge, empower the experts, have each other's backs and to have a little fun along the way.
Captain Cary's balanced career includes almost nine years of sea time and ten years of shore time. He has previous underway command experience aboard NOAA Ships Reuben Lasker, Henry B. Bigelow, Nancy Foster and John N. Cobb. As the Commanding Officer of Reuben Lasker he led the team to conduct operations from Mexico to Canada utilizing a modern suite of instrumentation to better understand the Eastern North Pacific ecosystem. Additional diverse career experiences stem from assignments in NOAA Fisheries, two different National Weather Service offices, and at NOAA Headquarters.
He is an Alaska native, born in Cordova and raised in Juneau. He earned a B.S. in Environmental Science with an emphasis in marine sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before joining the NOAA Corps. Committed to continuous learning, Captain Cary has since earned a M.S. in Geography from Portland State University and a Graduate Certificate in Legislative Studies from Georgetown University. Captain Cary is a graduate of NOAA's Leadership Competencies Development Program where he completed a detail with the U.S.C.G. Office of Cutter Forces that advanced a key NOAA facility initiative and built a partnership alliance with the U.S.C.G and U.S. Navy that continues today. He is also committed to NOAA's future leaders where he serves formally and informally as a mentor.
Captain Cary is accompanied on this adventure by his wife, Dayna, and their three children. They are active in their community where they engage in school activities and sports where CAPT Cary volunteers as a coach whenever possible. In his spare time he enjoys almost any outdoor pursuit especially exploring new trails.
Notable citations include one Department of Commerce Gold Medal for Hurricane Support, two Department of Commerce Bronze Medals for river forecasting during a record flood event in the Pacific Northwest and for NOAA Ship John N. Cobb's outstanding safety record and one NOAA Corps Meritorious Service Medal.
