Thad William Allen ( born January 16 , 1949 ) is a former United States Coast Guard admiral who served as the 23rd Commandant of the Coast Guard . Allen is best known for his widely praised performance directing the federal response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf Coast region from September 2005 to January 2006 , and for his role as National Incident Commander of the Unified Command for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 . Robert J. Papp , Jr. succeeded him as Commandant on May 25 , 2010 , in a change of command ceremony
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Thad Allen