 |
 |
 |
|
  Dan Somma
Commander Dan Somma spent a 20-year career in the US Coast Guard from 1998-2018. He moved to Rye in 1977 and attended Rye City Schools. He spent summers at Durland Scout Center (now closed) operating power boats and teaching snorkeling, canoeing, swimming, rowing and earning his SCUBA certification. He attended Rye High School and played football, basketball and ran track. He was influenced towards a career in public service by his parents, Nancy & Dan C. (another Rye Veteran), and two teachers, Mr. Dave Wixted in AP History and Mr. Charlie Northshield in mechanical drawing. He graduated from Rye High School in 1990. He attended the University of New Hampshire and graduated in 1994 with a BS in environmental conservation. After working and traveling in the Florida Keys, Mexico, and California he earned a commission in the Coast Guard in 1998 while working in Boston as an environmental consultant.
He completed Direct Commission Officer School in Yorktown, VA in 1998 and was assigned to Marine Safety Office Puget Sound in Seattle, WA. He served as Assistant Chief, Marine Environmental Response and oversaw the clean-up of 350 oil spills and hazardous materials releases. He later ran the container and facilities inspection team where he coordinated port security efforts after the 9/11 attacks. His team was credited with the largest seizure of stolen goods in the history of Port Tacoma while working jointly with US Customs.
He was promoted and requested assignment to Activities New York on Staten Island as a marine inspector so he could best serve Rye after 9/11. He served three years inspecting vessels of all types including ferries, foreign freight ships and barges. He boarded high risk ships entering the Port of New York / NJ and served on several high-profile port security cases involving suspect ships jointly with the FBI and NYPD. His final year he served as a command duty officer and oversaw all operations in the Port of New York / New Jersey. When off-duty, he earned an MS in international transportation management from the State University of New York Maritime College, Fort Schuyler. The greatest highlight of his tour in New York was meeting his future wife, Soley, in Brooklyn in 2004. They were married in 2006 at Fort Schuyler.
In 2006, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and was selected for a full time post graduate fellowship at George Washington University in Washington, DC where he completed an MS degree in engineering management. In 2008, he was assigned to Coast Guard Headquarters Office of Port and Facility Activities where he ran the cargo and facilities program office responsible for the oversight of 3,200 commercial waterfront facilities. He traveled nationally and internationally promoting the Maritime Transportation Security Act regulations. Due to his previous experience in spill management, he also served temporarily in Grand Isle, LA and New Orleans during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
 In 2012, Commander Somma transferred to the Washington Navy Yard and served as the liaison to Military Sealift Command (MSC) where he oversaw regulatory compliance of 150 US Naval Ships (USNS) operating in 24 time zones. During this tour, there was extreme conflict in Syria. Commander Somma was sent to Gaeta, Italy to help prepare the USNS Mount Whitney for its NATO mission. He was later tasked with assisting a ship activation for the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria and he served as a safety advisor and key briefer to the Commanding Officer, US Transportation Command for this project in Norfolk, VA. Later, North Korea threatened the US and allies with missile launches, and Commander Somma was sent to Pearl Harbor, HI to assist in the deployment of a missile tracking ship operating jointly with the US Air Force.
At the completion of his tour in 2014, he was transferred to Milwaukee, WI to serve as Chief, Prevention Department of Sector Lake Michigan and was promoted to Deputy Sector Commander in 2016. In this role, he oversaw all Coast Guard operations in a four-state area on and around Lake Michigan, including oversight of 545 active-duty personnel and 21 stations and sub-units. In this role he served as an alternate Captain of the Port, Officer in Charge Marine Inspection, and Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator. He completed his Coast Guard career in 2018, retiring with an honorable discharge.
During his Coast Guard career, he earned a number of personal awards including the Department of Homeland Security Exceptional Service Medal, the US Navy Meritorious Service Medal, the US Customs Best Practices Recognition Award for Joint Targeting Operations, Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal, three Coast Guard Commendation Medals and the Coast Guard Achievement Medal.
Upon retirement, Commander Somma joined Marathon Petroleum Corporation as their marine terminal advisor to run dock safety, emergency management and compliance programs at 40 oil terminals in 14 states. Marathon Petroleum is a leading downstream energy company with a $55 billion market capitalization that operates the nation’s largest refining system and owns and operates all levels of the oil transportation system. He continues to work daily with the US Coast Guard to ensure the safe, compliant and environmentally sound transportation of oil products along US waterways in ships, barges, pipelines and through terminals.
Commander Somma lives with his wife and their three boys in Columbus, OH. He enjoys fishing, SCUBA diving and golfing with his sons. He stays involved with the community as a volunteer football coach. He is quick to point out his Rye teams never lost to Harrison and admits to running plays from the Garnet playbooks of the late 1980’s. You never stop being a Garnet.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|