Ronald James Rábago is a retired United States Coast Guard rear admiral who in 2006 became the first person of Hispanic American descent to be promoted to flag rank in the United States Coast Guard. He retired as the assistant commandant for engineering and logistics and the United States Coast Guard's chief engineer in 2014. Early life and career Rábago was born in Germany and entered the United States Coast Guard Academy upon his graduation from high school in Laredo, Texas. In 1978, he graduated from the academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in ocean engineering and was commissioned as an ensign. His first assignment was aboard the Honolulu-based USCGC Mellon as a student engineer. USCG assistant commandant for engineering and logistics Ronald J. Rábago was the Coast Guard's assistant commandant for engineering and logistics (CG-4). As the Coast Guard's chief engineer, he was responsible for all naval, civil, aeronautical, and industrial engineering, logistics, and environmental and energy management programs for the Coast Guard's $22 billion capital plant, which includes 23,000 facilities, 250 ships, 1,800 boats, and 200 aircraft. Responsible for executing an annual budget of $1 billion, he also led over 5,000 personnel at Coast Guard Headquarters and the three Coast Guard Logistics Centers: the Aviation Logistics Center (ALC) in Elizabeth City, North Carolina; the Shore Infrastructure Logistics Center (SILC) in Norfolk, Virginia; and, the Surface Forces Logistics Center (SFLC) in Baltimore, Maryland. Past assignments Rábago's other assignments included the following: Engineer officer on board the CGC TAMPA; and engineering and deck marine inspector at the Marine Safety Office Port Arthur, Texas. Port engineer at the Ship Repair Detachment in Portsmouth and later as executive officer of the Naval Engineering Support Unit (NESU), at Portsmouth, Virginia; Executive officer of the CGC Boutwell, in Alameda, California; Type Desk Manager in the Vessel Repair Division of the Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic on Governors Island, New York; Commanding Officer CGC Tampa from 1997 to 1999; Chief of the Fifth District Law Enforcement Branch; commanding officer of USCGC Tampa, in Portsmouth, Virginia; Industrial manager and then the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland. Rabago assumed command of the U.S. Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore. He assumed command of the yard, following the retirement of Captain William S. Cheever. Deputy commander of the Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia; Rábago served as the director