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Jeff Westling
Chief of Staff
Jeff Westling joined Operation Blessing as the Chief of Staff in February of 2019 and oversees the day-to-day operations, strategy and mission execution of the organization for the President of Operation Blessing. In this capacity, he coordinates the efforts of Operation Blessing’s leadership team and CBN executives to deliver humanitarian relief to those in need domestically and internationally.
In 2018, Jeff retired as a Captain in the United States Coast Guard having served more than 27 years of commissioned service. While on active duty, he was an innovator and expert in leading organizational change in the mission support specialties to enhance mission success. He served in increasing levels of leadership in the engineering, operational logistics, human resources and major systems acquisitions program management communities. As the Commanding Officer for the Nationwide Automatic Identification System project office, he was responsible for the development of a major homeland security project to track ships and commercial traffic in U.S. ports and waterways to enhance maritime safety and security. He led the Coast Guard-wide business process reengineering effort to maximize standard processes and procedures in how the service manages procurements, budgets and supply inventories in the operational field. His career highlight was serving as the senior Mission Support Officer and Commanding Officer for Base Kodiak, Alaska, the largest U.S. Coast Guard installation and the most vast and remote operating area for Coast Guard mission execution. Throughout his career he was a recognized expert in logistics, finance and administration for disaster response activities having responded to the Exxon Valdez oil spill as well as multiple floods, hurricanes and other disasters.
Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1991, a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Regent University in 2000, and a Master of Arts in National Security Studies (Homeland Defense and Security) from the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security in 2010. He is a registered Professional Engineer (civil engineering), certified Project Management Professional, and holds Incident Commander, Logistics Section Chief, and Finance/Administration Section Chief certifications from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS). While on active duty, he was awarded six Meritorious Service Medals, six Coast Guard Commendation Medals, an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, and numerous other personal and unit recognitions.
Jeff enjoys the outdoors and is an active leader within youth development programs including the Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts. Jeff was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN, and resides with his wife and three children in Virginia.