Professional Affiliation

Atlantic Area Commander, Commander, Coast Guard Defense Forces East, Director, DHS Joint Task Force East, United States Coast Guard

Expert Bio

Vice Admiral Lunday assumed the duties as Commander, Atlantic Area in May 2022 where he is responsible for directing Coast Guard forces and operations across all mission areas in five Districts from the Navigable Inland Waterways east of the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes, Gulf Coast, and East Coast of the United States throughout the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean to the Arabian Gulf. He also serves as Commander, Coast Guard Defense Forces East, providing Coast Guard support as part of the joint force to the Department of Defense and Combatant Commanders for national defense missions. He is also appointed and serves as the Director, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Joint Task Force East, responsible for coordinating and synchronizing DHS cross-component operations to address threats to the southeast U.S. border and approaches.

Vice Admiral Lunday previously served as the Deputy for Materiel Readiness at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters from 2020-2022 where he provided oversight and guidance for program management of engineering and logistics, acquisitions and contracting, security, and command, control, communications, and information technology (C4IT).

He previously served from 2018-2020 as the Commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District where he was responsible for directing Coast Guard operations throughout Oceania, including Hawai’i, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and activities in Singapore and Japan.

From 2016-2018, he served as the Commander, Coast Guard Cyber Command, responsible for the operation, maneuver, and defense of the Coast Guard Enterprise Mission Platform as part of the Department of Defense Information Networks to enable mission execution. He was also responsible for directing remote and deployable defensive cyberspace operations in support of Coast Guard field commanders to protect U.S. maritime critical infrastructure from cyber threats. He also served as the Assistant Commandant for C4IT where he directed the program management, acquisition, and sustainment of C4IT capabilities and services.

From 2014 to 2016, he served as the Director of Exercises and Training (J7), U.S. Cyber Command, where he was responsible for the joint training of the Cyber Mission Force and delivery of trained and ready cyberspace forces for the Department of Defense.

Vice Admiral Lunday has served in a variety of operational, intelligence, and legal assignments in the Coast Guard and joint community, including command afloat and ashore in Atlantic Area.

Vice Admiral Lunday is a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College with a Master of Science in National Security Strategy and a graduate of the Naval War College (College of Command and Staff) with distinction. He holds a Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School with high honors and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering with honors from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Individual military awards include the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, four Legions of Merit, three Meritorious Service Medals, and other personal, unit, and campaign awards. He is a 2004 recipient of the National Intelligence Certificate of Distinction and 2005 recipient of the American Bar Association Outstanding Military Service Career Judge Advocate Award.