Coast Guard TRACEN Cape May Capt. Thomas Promoted to Rear Admiral

CAPE MAY —Coast Guard Training Center Cape May Capt. Cari B. Thomas was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral (lower half) in a frocking ceremony held here Jan. 21.
The event was led by U.S. Coast Guard Vice Commandant David P. Pekoske. He called for a moment of silence for the people of Haiti.
Pekoske said Thomas will be officially promoted to the new rank when there is a vacancy. Beginning next week, she will attend CAPSTONE at the Department of Defense.
The six-week course brings all newly appointed flag and general officers up to the strategic level. Two weeks of the course will include domestic travel with two weeks of international travel to Central and South America to show how the U.S. government interacts with other partnering nations. She will meet with all the service chiefs in Washington D.C.
Pekoske said the Coast Guard has about 40 flag officers and 41,000 active duty men and women. He said .1 percent of Coast Guard members are promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral, lower half.
Pekoske said he worked with Thomas on multiple occasions.
“Everything I ever asked her to do was done incredibly thoroughly, always ahead of time and always with a very positive attitude,” he said.
Thomas will be the first flag officer in command of TRACEN. Pekoske read a certificate signed by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad W. Allen.
Thomas’ husband U.S. Coast Guard Commander Gary Thomas, her daughter Andi and mother Kay Batson joined her on stage and pinned the shoulder boards of an admiral on her uniform. She was presented with a personal flag by Pekoske, which will be flown wherever she visits.
Thomas repeated the oath she received when she was commissioned.
Rear Admiral Cari B. Thomas told the audience she spent hundreds of days at sea with Haitian migrants on deck and visiting Haiti. She displayed a piece of Haitian artwork.
Thomas said she wasn’t always as strong as she is today. She read a letter her mother sent her when she was at the academy urging her to put in more effort. Thomas said she sat before an adaptability board for failure to adapt at that time.
She thanked a multitude of people for her success.