Virgin Islander, Keo L. Brown, a Coast Guard Operational Specialist Technician stationed aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter James received an Achievement Award for superior performance from July 2019 to July 2022. According to a release from the Coast Guard, Todd D. Vance, the cutter’s Commanding Officer, recognized Petty Officer Brown for his accomplishments last month when the vessel was docked in the port of Charleston, South Carolina. Petty Officer Brown’s commendable achievements include a demonstration of his exceptional knowledge in singlehandedly rebuilding the cutter’s communications suite while underway at sea, thus maintaining the National Security Cutter’s ability to remain on mission while deployed to the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. In the Fall of 2021, Petty Officer Brown also developed a robust command and control training curriculum for the cutter’s first counter-narcotics patrol.
As a junior member of the communications division, Petty Officer Brown assisted in problem analysis of complex communication systems and worked in the communications command-and-control naval information warfare center to maintain operations of critical satellite-based systems supporting U.S. national security interests in the regions. Above and beyond his primary duties, he augmented the cutter’s law enforcement program as a boarding team member during high-tempo counter-narcotics operations, playing a vital role in the cutter’s seizure of 40,800 kilograms of illicit narcotics valued at $1.4 billion and the detention of 93 suspected narco-traffickers.
In 2017, Brown joined the U.S. Coast Guard. His past assignments include Basic Training Center Cape May, New Jersey; Coast Guard Marine Force Protection Unit Kings Bay, Georgia; Operation Specialist School Training Center Petaluma, California; and Sector Charleston, South Carolina. His next assignment is Coast Guard Sector, Baltimore. Maryland.
Brown’s grandmother, Donia Francis, is among his greatest supporters that told him to work hard to achieve his goals. His interest in the Coast Guard grew when Tom Hoffman, National Director at Navy League contacted Alvin Dalmida Jr, Coast Guard (Retired). Dalmida said, “Tom and I saw talent, excellent work ethic, academic achievement, volunteerism, and leadership prowess and in Keo Brown.”
Brown is a 2014 Charlotte Amalie High school graduate, who attended the University of the Virgin Islands and is continuing his studies in Marine Biology. He is the son of Diana and Joseph Brown and the grandson of Donia and Raymond Francis of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
