Commander Mike Powers

U. S. Coast Guard (retired)

Marquette, Michigan


CDR Mike Powers retired from the Coast Guard after more than 21 years service and returned to the Great Lakes region.  Raised in Dayton, Ohio, CDR Mike Powers graduated from the Coast Guard Academy and served on a number of Great Lakes Icebreakers, including as Commanding Officer of the USCGC NEAH BAY (WTGB 105), homeported in Cleveland, OH.  He was USCGC POLAR SEA's "XO" (Executive Officer - 2nd in command) on the Arctic Ocean Section 1994 Expedition across the Arctic Ocean via the North Pole.

His last assignment was as the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Electronic Systems Support Unit in Seattle, WA.  During his career, CDR Mike Powers served in a number of assignments in electronics and information technology support, including Telecommunications Management Branch Chief and then Information Systems Branch Chief for the Third Coast Guard District in New York, NY; Radio Systems Section Chief at the Maintenance and Logistics Command Pacific in Alameda, CA; and Information Management Staff Chief for the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans, LA.

He and his wife, Colonel Kathy Powers, USMCR, reside in Marquette, Michigan.  Mike heads a small web site development firm, Marquette WebWorks, and Kathy is an account executive with WLUC-TV6. 


CDR Mike Powers maneuvering POLAR SEA during Deep Freeze 1995 off of the ice wharf at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

Military Retirement:  After over 21 years of service, in one of the hardest decisions I've made in my life, I decided to transition from the Coast Guard into civilian life.  This is also called "military retirement."  To say that the decisions and it's implications has been traumatic truly unstates the situation!!  To help others going through this transition, I've put together a short list of books I've found particularly valuable.  


Others sites of interest:


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Created in the fall of 1995.
Updated on January 10, 1999.