Rear Adm. Tabitha A. Schiro assumed the duties of Director of the Coast Guard Reserve and the Assistant Commandant for Reserve in July 2026. She is responsible for the preparation, justification, and execution of the personnel training budget for the Reserve Component, overseeing the resourcing and readiness of 7,000 reservists to meet global contingency and surge requirements.
Additionally, Rear Adm. Schiro serves as the program manager for the Reserve Component Manager (RCM) program, directing the budget and infrastructure for both the RCM and Full-Time Support (FTS) operations consisting of 419 personnel. She also serves as the statutory principal advisor to the Commandant on all Reserve matters, driving strategic policy direction.
Rear Adm. Schiro brings extensive experience in crisis leadership and contingency operations, synchronizing interagency coordination to ensure effective responses to maritime incidents and disasters. From May 2024 to June 2026, she served as the Reserve Chief of Staff and Senior Reserve Officer for U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area, overseeing the readiness of over 3,200 reservists.
Rear Adm. Schiro has held numerous command and executive leadership roles, including Commanding Officer of U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Unit U.S. Indo-Pacific Command; Reserve Chief of Staff and Senior Reserve Officer for the Arctic District; and Senior Reserve Officer for Sector San Diego, Sector Juneau, and Marine Safety Unit Chicago.
A seasoned leader in disaster response, she has been activated for multiple large-scale incident responses, serving as Sector Saint Petersburg Incident Commander for Hurricane Ian (2022); Area Commander for Hurricane Ida (2021); Deputy Area Commander for the Arctic District’s COVID-19 response (2020); and directed the complex, on-water response fleet of Coast Guard and civilian vessels during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Additionally, she mobilized from January 2023 to April 2024 as the Deputy Incident Commander for the Coast Guard Recruiting Incident Management Team, assisting the Coast Guard in meeting recruiting missions for the first time since 2017.
Rear Adm. Schiro holds a master’s degree in environmental science from the University of Denver and graduated with honors from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Marine and Environmental Science. She has received multiple personal, team and campaign awards through her 30 years of both active-duty and Reserve service.