Director / Deputy Director

Bill Hanlon was appointed Director in November 2022. Prior to this National appointment, Bill served two years as the Division Chief on the Q staff for response activities and oversaw the development of the Dashboard where up to the minute emergency management information data sources reside.

Preceding the Q appointments, he served five consecutive District 7 Commodores as the Auxiliary District Coordinator for all emergency & pre-planned large-scale Incident Command System (ICS) events. In that role, Bill enjoyed the confidence of multiple Directors of the Auxiliary (DIRAUX).

Designated by each DIRAUX, Bill was the Auxiliary’s initial point of contact with Coast Guard senior command staff whenever an Area Command Incident Management Team (AC/IMT) was activated. His AC/IMT activities included: participating twice daily in Command & General Staff and Planning conference call meetings; during ICS activations, Bill coordinated requested AC/IMT resource needs for Auxiliary support with six Auxiliary Sector Coordinators and four Coast Guard Air Stations.

Aux Hanlon commenced his Auxiliary voyage in 2008. After attending a Public Affairs C-School, Bill developed the idea to produce Public Service Announcements (PSA) promoting community awareness of the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). He created multiple 30 & 60 second PSAs. He developed storyboards, scripted, narrated, edited, and oversaw post-production efforts prior to a nationwide distribution in several movie theater chains. A US Senator, Congressional Members, and NFL Hall of Famer VIPs were among the varied individuals who responded to his call taking the time to contribute with the critical public-service messaging. A few years later, during a Coast Guard debriefing following an actual Search & Rescue off the coast of Florida the two survivors (father & son from the Bahamas) of a boating accident credited seeing one of the PSAs with a decision to purchase an EPIRB.

Bill received the Auxiliary’s Public Affairs National 1 st Place award for seeking State of Florida approval then coordinating with the Department of Highway Safety in displaying digital messaging signs along the Interstate Highway System & Turnpike during National Safe Boating Week (NSBW). He also arranged during NSBW for the Goodyear blimp’s huge visual display screen to promote safe boating messages.

In 2010, following a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti, Bill responded to assist the Coast Guard’s AC/IMT. Several days after the initial event, Bill was assigned to the Joint Information Center (JIC) located at the Command Post in Miami. It was evening when a phone call came in from a local media outlet. They advised that one of their correspondents now on the scene in Port au Prince had come upon a collapsed building and faint screams for help were heard beneath the rubble. When asked if they realized they were connected to someone in Miami the caller advised the JIC was the only phone number they had. A quick Google search found the longitude and latitude coordinates where the caller said they were located. A call was then made from the JIC to the Coast Guard Cutter positioned off the coast of Haiti. A helicopter was dispatched to the location. While the aircraft circled over the general vicinity, the reporter at the collapsed structure was directed from Miami to flash a light so the pilot could locate the victims. In the end, this was just one of many saves coordinated by Team Coast Guard.

As a Strike Force Team certified ICS instructor, Bill was afforded the opportunity to travel throughout the country to Coast Guard and other federal installations teaching advanced ICS course materials to Active Duty, Reserves, and Auxiliary cadres.

As a senior ICS instructor, Bill was identified as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the field of Emergency Management. In that SME capacity, Bill led multiple efforts on significant and innovative mission assignments. Those activities included: multiple deployments in support of Gulf Coast oil spill remediation efforts following the Deep Water Horizon oil-rig explosion, coordinating Black Swan Exercises in the Caribbean & Hawaiian Islands, and developing and implementing a first-of-its-kind Auxiliary Mass Rescue Operations Specialist Program. Other activities involved public speaking opportunities on behalf of the Coast Guard with our foreign nation partners with regards to implementing and exercising mass rescue plans at both air & seaport facilities.

Bill authored District 7’s Auxiliary Contingency Support Plan (ACSP). With the Admiral’s signature, the ACSP was fully integrated as an Annex in the District’s All Hazards Response Plan. The significance of that action was to ensure Auxiliary participation in all full scale exercises and table top discussions. 

During those annual exercises “training injects” were specifically directed to the Auxiliary. That provided opportunities for senior Coast Guard personnel to interact and witness firsthand the benefits of utilizing Auxiliary resources during actual ICS events.

Bill was also called upon by multiple DIRAUX to conduct internal investigations involving Auxiliary member conduct.

Bill worked for the FBI and the Miami Dade Police Department. After more than 51 years Bill retired. Some of his assignments included: Organized Crime, Internal Affairs, Special Weapons & Hostage Response, Counterfeit/Trademark Infringement, Human Trafficking, and Employee Background investigations.

Aux Hanlon earned a BA in Management, a Masters in Public Administration and a Juris Doctorate from Nova Southeastern Law School.

Bill is married to Marjorie. They have two children and five grandchildren. Bill’s other avocations include beekeeping and sports officiating. Bill is a college football replay official. Postseason assignments have included the Cotton, Peach Bowls, and an Army-Navy contest.