Captain Peter Troedsson, USCG

Captain Peter Troedsson is military fellow, U.S. Coast Guard, at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Captain Troedsson joins CFR from New Orleans where he served as chief of staff of the Eighth Coast Guard District from June 2010 to July 2012. Prior to this assignment he served as chief of the Response Division, Eighth Coast Guard District, managing the Eighth District's programs in search and rescue, security, law enforcement, and oil and hazardous materials spill response. He reported to this position from Astoria, Oregon, where he commanded Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria from 2006 to 2009. He is a native of Los Angeles and a 1984 graduate of UCLA with bachelor of arts degrees in political science and Scandinavian languages.

Upon receiving his commission from Coast Guard Officer Candidate School in 1984, Captain Troedsson served on the planning staff of the Office of Merchant Marine Safety at Coast Guard Headquarters. In 1986, he began Naval Flight Training in Pensacola, Florida, earned his "wings" in 1987, and was assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles where he flew the HH-52 Sea Guard and the HH-65 Dolphin. In 1991 he was assigned to duty as the Coast Guard's exchange pilot with the Royal Navy in Cornwall, England, flying the Westland MkV Sea King with 771 Royal Naval Air Squadron. During this assignment, he served as the squadron's flight safety officer and public relations officer. During his tenure, the squadron earned the coveted Bambarra Flight Safety Shield.

In 1993, Captain Troedsson was assigned to Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles, Washington. He was designated an instructor pilot in the HH-65, and served as administration department head, and subsequently as air operations and standardization officer. In 1997 he was selected for graduate education in public administration. At George Washington University, he served as associate editor for the journal Policy Perspectives and as coach for the MBA sailing team. He completed his master's in public administration (with a concentration in international trade policy) in 1998 and was the 1998 MPA honor graduate from GWU's School of Business and Public Management. After graduation, he was assigned as a management analyst in the Office of Plans, Policy and Evaluation on the staff of the Coast Guard's Resource Director, and was responsible for developing and communicating the Coast Guard's capital investment plan.

Captain Troedsson served as executive officer at CGAS San Francisco from July 2001 to June 2003, and as Commanding Officer of CGAS Savannah from July 2003 to July 2005. In May 2006 he graduated with "highest academic distinction" and earned a master's in strategic studies at the U.S. Air Force Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama.

Captain Troedsson's decorations include the Legion of Merit, five Meritorious Service Medals, the 9/11 Medal, four Coast Guard Achievement Medals, the Army Achievement Medal, three Commandant's Letters of Commendation and numerous unit commendations. He has accumulated over 5000 flight hours and maintains an FAA Commercial pilot's license in both fixed and rotary wing aircraft. He has completed the Naval War College's graduate seminar in strategy and policy, and has been published in the Naval Institute's Proceedings.

Captain Troedsson has served as a member of the board of directors of United Way, Clatsop County, is an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church, and a Rotarian. He is a member of the U.S. Naval Institute, U.S. Sailing Association, American Scandinavian Foundation, and Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. His interests are many and varied, but in his spare time he can most often be found sailing, bicycling, swimming, skiing, or reading.