COMMAND
COMMANDING OFFICER: CAPT Matthew W. Hammond 
Captain Matthew W. Hammond is the Second Commanding Officer of USCGC CALHOUN (WSML 759) homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. CAPT Hammond previously served as Chief, Mission Support Division at the Coast Guard Academy. This division provided personnel, medical, information technology, facilities maintenance and logistics support to the units and people who serve under the Coast Guard Academy Superintendent, including more 1600 combined cadets, officer candidates, active duty, reserve, civilian and auxiliary personnel. Additionally, he worked closely with the Coast Guard Leadership and Development Center and Sector Long Island Sound units for personnel support. A Permanent Cutterman with eight years of sea service, CAPT Hammond’s most recent afloat tour was aboard CGC RELIANCE in Kittery, Maine, where he served as Commanding Officer. Previous afloat tours include service aboard the CGC BOUTWELL, as Student Engineer, and CGC MORGENTHAU, as Engineer Officer, homeported in Alameda, California. Additionally, he served as Executive Officer of CGC DOUGLAS MUNRO in Kodiak, Alaska.
CAPT Hammond’s shore assignments were as Chief, Industrial Operations Division at the Coast Guard Surface Forces Logistics Center (SFLC) in Norfolk, Virginia. He also served as the Engineering Branch Chief at the SFLC Small Boat Product Line in Curtis Bay, Maryland. Additionally, he was a project manager at the Coast Guard Research and Development Center in Groton, Connecticut. Finally, he worked in the Coast Guard Office of Naval Engineering (CG-45), as a program manager. CAPT Hammond earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the US Coast Guard Academy. He also holds a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, in Atlanta, Georgia, and a Master of Science Degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College in Washington, District of Columbia.
CAPT Hammond’s military decorations include three Meritorious Service Medals, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, the Coast Guard Achievement Medal and other unit and service awards that he collaboratively earned working with the amazing members of the Coast Guard and other federal, state, local and international partners. Additionally, CAPT Hammond was inducted into the Coast Guard Academy Athletics Hall of Fame as a proud member of the 1996 and 1997 NCAA Division III Football Playoff Teams. Finally, CAPT Hammond was honored, and humbled, as a Coast Guard Academy Admiral Loy Institute for Leadership “Spirit of the Bear” Awardee in 2024. CAPT Matt Hammond is a native of Rome, Georgia.
He is married to his high school sweetheart Loren. Matt and Loren are proud parents to three amazing adult children Spencer, Caroline, and Lillian.
EXECUTIVE OFFICER: CDR George G. MacDonnell
Commander George MacDonnell, a proud native of Newport, Rhode Island, graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Government, and was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Coast Guard.
Upon graduation, and commissioning, CDR MacDonnell reported for duty as a Deck Watch Officer aboard USCGC CYPRESS (WLB-210), then homeported in Mobile, Alabama. Additionally, CDR MacDonnell served at sea as Commanding Officer in USCGC MAPLE (WLB-207) in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, Executive Officer in USCGC ALDER (WLB-216) in Duluth, Minnesota, and First Lieutenant, Assistant Weapons Officer, and Navigator in the Plankowner crew of USCGC WAESCHE (WMSL-751), in Alameda, California.
CDR MacDonnell was assigned to the Coast Guard Academy as a member of the Rotating Military Faculty, where he taught U.S. History, Coast Guard History, and American Government to over five hundred future Coast Guard Officers. CDR MacDonnell was also a Company Officer in the Cadet Barracks, responsible for the professional development of 135 future officers. Most recently, CDR MacDonnell served as the Officer and Civilian Leadership Continuum School Chief at the Leadership Development Center, educating and developing over 1500 Coast Guard Civilians and Officers including GS-12s through GS-14s and O-2s through O-5s.
Commander MacDonnell holds a Master of Arts Degree in History from The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Earning a Permanent Cutterman designation in November 2012, his personal awards include the Coast Guard Commendation Medal (2), Coast Guard Achievement Medal (2), and the Commandant’s Letter of Commendation, in addition to various other awards. Most recently, CDR MacDonnell was the 2023 recipient of the prestigious CAPT David H. Jarvis Award for inspirational leadership.
Commander MacDonnell and his wife of seventeen years, Christine, have a twelve-year old son, Owen. Their eight-year-old son, Sean, passed away in August of 2022 after a four-year battle with Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer. Christine is a graduate of the University of Connecticut, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. The MacDonnells make their home in Summerville, South Carolina.