Captain Kenin currently serves as the 32nd Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Air Station Miami. Earning the title “The Busiest Air-Sea Rescue Unit in the World,” Air Station Miami operates five multi-mission MH-65C Dolphin helicopters and six HU-25D Guardian jets throughout the waters of the southeastern United States and Caribbean Basin. Leading over 300 military members, Captain Kenin oversees the safe and effective application of nearly 9000 flight hours each year carrying out a variety of search and rescue, law enforcement, environmental protection, and homeland security missions. On average, Air Station Miami crews will fly two search and rescue cases per day, save 1 life per week and stop 120 illegal migrants per month from reaching U.S. shores.

Beginning his military career as an engineering officer aboard a Coast Guard High Endurance Cutter, Captain Kenin developed a solid maritime foundation while conducting search and rescue and fisheries law enforcement operations in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. After selection for naval flight training, he earned his Wings of Gold in 1987 at NAS Corpus Christi, TX and reported to Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, AL as an operational aviator flying the HU-25A Guardian fanjet. His subsequent aviation tours included Coast Guard Air Station St. Augustine, FL prosecuting counter narcotics missions as an AWACS pilot and Coast Guard Air Station Miami flying the HU-25C in an air interceptor role. Transitioning to rotary wing aviation, he completed tours in North Bend, OR flying the HH-65A helicopter and commanding Coast Guard Air Station Houston flying the HH-65B helicopter.

Captain Kenin has enjoyed a variety of staff tours that included service as the Aviation Assignments Officer at the Coast Guard Personnel Command in Washington, DC. He also was selected and served as a Coast Guard Fellow working on the staff of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation where he drafted legislation that would later become the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, a sweeping change to port security in the post-9-11 anti-terrorism environment. Captain Kenin most recently served as Executive Assistant to the Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Operations in Washington, D.C.

He is a 1984 graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy. He earned a Masters of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Master of Science in National Security Studies from the National War College.

Captain Kenin holds FAA qualification as an Airline Transport Pilot in fixed-wing aircraft and a commercial license for helicopters, as well as military pilot designations in the HH-65 Dolphin helicopter, the HU-25 Guardian fanjet, and the E-2C Hawkeye AWACS aircraft. He is a Lifetime member of the Ancient Order of the Pterodactyls, the Coast Guard’s professional aviation organization.

His personal military decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Coast Guard Commendation Medal, as well as various unit and service decorations. Captain Kenin is a native of Anderson, South Carolina and enjoys general aviation with his wife and two young sons.

Speaker: Opening Session and Keynote Address, Multi-Agency SAR Operations