Ian Starr

Background

About Ian Starr

I am currently serving as the Commanding Officer of the medium-endurance cutter Resolute in St. Petersburg, Florida. A career cutterman with over nine years of sea service, I have executed a broad array of maritime missions, including search and rescue, fisheries enforcement, counter-narcotics, migrant interdiction, defense/security operations, and international engagements across the globe. Prior afloat assignments include Executive Officer of the Coast Guard’s largest medium-endurance cutter, Alex Haley, in Kodiak, Alaska (2019-21); Commanding Officer of the patrol boat Chandeleur in Ketchikan, Alaska (2014-16); Commanding Officer of the patrol boat Aquidneck in Manama, Bahrain (2013-14); Navigator aboard the guided missile destroyer Chung-Hoon in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (2008-10), and Deck Watch Officer aboard the medium-endurance cutter Diligence in Wilmington, North Carolina (2006-08). Ashore, I was most recently a detailee to the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, where I served as the United States’ Competent National Authority under Article 17 of the 1988 Vienna Drug Convention (2022-24). I also served as the Secretary’s certification authority for cases under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and led an interagency team in negotiating bilateral maritime agreements with partner nations. Prior staff assignments include serving as a Federal Executive Fellow at the U.S. Naval Institute in Annapolis, Maryland (2021-22); liaison to the Joint Chiefs of Staff J5 (Strategy, Plans & Policy) directorate at the Pentagon (2017-19); and Command Duty Officer at the National Command Center (NCC) in Washington, D.C (2010-13). I graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science & Government. In 2016, I earned a master’s degree in Defense and Security Studies from the Naval War College. In 2024, I completed MIT’s Seminar XXI national security program.