My Coast Guard Option: My Opportunity to Fight the Good Fight

Three decades of Coast Guard service, one powerful lesson: do what's right, no matter what the cost.

Close's book pulls readers into the heart of the Coast Guard experience-covering lifesaving rescues, the 9/11 attacks, environmental crises, and a hurricane that forever changed the lives of so many.

“During my career, I developed what I call the ‘Coast Guard option,’” said Close, a U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduate who served as Captain of the Port in St. Petersburg/Tampa, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia, and as Director of the Western Rivers in New Orleans, Louisiana. “It’s about accomplishing the mission while using your trained initiative—being motivated not to stand by, but to do what is right, regardless of the consequences. It’s all about fighting the good fight.”

Close takes readers inside a career defined by some of the nation’s most critical moments. After 9/11, he helped shape the Coast Guard’s national port security strategy. Just a few years later, Hurricane Katrina hit, and Close served on a leadership team that rescued thousands across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. In 2009, he led a search-and-rescue mission in Florida, overseeing efforts that saved one man after a boat capsized—a mission that made headlines because two NFL players were involved. He also played a key role in the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an environmental disaster that claimed 11 lives and caused widespread damage along the Gulf Coast.

“This book sheds light upon one of the most diverse services of our nation's armed forces,” said Chris Schafer, CEO at Tactical 16 Publishing. “Tim's 30-year career offers a glimpse into missions that extend far beyond the typical search and rescue. It's enlightening and entertaining at the same time.”

Close now works as an independent maritime consultant and lives in Florida with his wife, Peggy.

Timothy M. Close, Captain, U.S. Coast Guard (retired) completed 30 years of active duty service including assignments as Chief of Staff in the Fourteenth Coast Guard District in Honolulu, Sector Commander and Captain of the Port in St. Petersburg/Tampa, Captain of the Port in Savannah, GA, and Director of the Western Rivers in New Orleans. He had a leadership role in the U.S. Coast Guard actions responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, responding to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and directing large-scale security operations, including the G-8 Summit in Sea Island, GA in 2004 and the NFL's Superbowl in Tampa in 2009. He is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Class of 1982, and a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1986.He and his wife, Peggy, live in Florida, where he works as an independent maritime consultant.