Current Ancient Albatross
Rear Admiral Christopher A. Bartz (3167)
Assistant Commandant for C4 & IT
Rear Admiral Bartz currently serves as the U.S. Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Information Technology (CG-6). In this capacity, he also serves as the Coast Guard’s Chieflnformation Officer.
Rear Admiral Bartz previously served as the Director of Training and Exercises (J7) at U.S. Cyber Command. There he developed joint training and readiness standards and orchestrated large scale exercises for active duty and reserve cyber mission forces, partner nations, government agencies, and private industry.
Rear Admiral Bartz has also served as the Coast Guard’s Chief Information Security Officer, where he established policies and procedures focused on enhancing cybersecurity in the Service. During his assignment as the Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard’s Operation’s System Center, he led software development efforts for 55 enterprise software applications and oversaw the Service’s enterprise data center. He also served as the Chief of C4 and IT Capabilities where he generated and managed IT requirements for afloat, aviation and shore-based assets.
Rear Admiral Bartz currently serves as the 27th Ancient Albatross, the Coast Guard’s longest serving active-duty aviator. He received his wings in 1994 and reported to Air Station North Bend, Oregon for his first aviation assignment. He was designated a Coast Guard Aeronautical Engineer in 1998 and received follow-on assignments to Aviation Training Center Mobile, Alabama; Air Station Detroit, Michigan; and Air Station New Orleans, Louisiana. During his career, he accumulated over 3,300 hours of helicopter flight time and was credited with over 120 search and rescue cases, resulting in over 60 persons saved or assisted. As a member of the Polar Operations Division, he deployed aboard Coast Guard icebreakers to support operations in Antarctica and Alaska. As well as conducting law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction operations, he participated in the Coast Guard response to Hurricane Katrina and to the search and rescue and oil pollution response following the tragic explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon Mobile Drilling Unit in the Gulf of Mexico.
Rear Admiral Bartz earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture from the Coast Guard ·Academy in 1990; a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Alabama in 2002; and holds a certificate in Enterprise Architecture from the National Defense University. He is certified DBS Level 3 Program Manager and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional.
His awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (two awards), the Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), the Coast Guard Commendation Medal (three awards), and various other personal and unit awards.
