Sector Jacksonville Commanding Officer:
Captain Mark R. Vlaun
Captain Mark R. Vlaun is Commander, Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville, Florida. He serves as Captain of the Port, Officer in Charge of Marine Inspection, Federal Maritime Security Coordinator and Federal On-Scene Coordinator for the Ports of Jacksonville, Canaveral and St. Mary’s/Fernandina, Georgia. He is a designated Cutterman, Judge Advocate and Diving Officer.
At sea, Captain Vlaun served as Commanding Officer of USCGC FIR (WLB 213) patrolling the waters of the Pacific Northwest, including the hazardous river bars along the Washington and Oregon coasts. Captain Vlaun previously served as Executive Officer in CGC MAPLE and CGC WOODRUSH, as Diving Officer in CGC POLAR SEA and as Operations Officer in CGC RED OAK. While in POLAR SEA he led a dive team conducting operations in both Polar Regions.
Ashore, Captain Vlaun recently served as Deputy Commander, Coast Guard Sector Miami. He has previously served in a variety of legal assignments to include: Staff Judge Advocate for the Seventh Coast Guard District and Senior Legal Advisor to Homeland Security Task Force Southeast in Miami, Florida; Chief, Maritime Law at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Staff Attorney, Office of Maritime and International Law at Coast Guard Headquarters; Deputy Chief, Office of Environmental Law; and, Trial Counsel/Prosecutor, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. Captain Vlaun has served in two special assignments: Special Assistant and Speechwriter to the 25th Commandant, Admiral Paul Zukunft; and, as Military Aide to Rear Admiral Paul Blayney, Commander 13th District, Seattle, Washington.
Captain Vlaun is a 1994 graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy. He holds a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, where he was elected to the Woolsack Honor Society, served as Managing Editor of the Environmental Law Review and won the Montgomery/MacRae Award. In 2012, he graduated from resident senior service school at Marine Corps War College, earning a Masters in Strategic Studies with distinction. He is a graduate of U.S. Navy Dive School, Naval Justice School and Air Command and Staff College, distance program. In 2018, he was recognized by the American Bar Association with the Outstanding Military Service Career Judge Advocate Award.
Captain Vlaun is married to Kristen Keely Vlaun, an adjunct professor at George Mason University, with whom he has two children, Brooke and Anderson.