Aaron Roth

Commander Aaron Roth is the U.S. Coast Guard military fellow in the CSIS International Security Program. He reports to CSIS from his previous assignment as operations officer of the Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT), the Coast Guard’s high-risk law enforcement and counterterrorism unit, in Chesapeake, VA. Prior to that assignment, Commander Roth was instrumental in the formation of the U.S. Deployable Operations Group (DOG) in 2007. Following its establishment, he served as executive assistant to the DOG commander, who oversaw over 3,000 personnel at 24 different commands within the Coast Guard’s Deployable Specialized Forces community. Commander Roth graduated in 1993 from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and has held several other operational and staff positions during his 18-year career, including positions as commanding officer of a patrol boat in Key West, FL, heavily focused on drug and migrant interdiction operations. In over a decade of operational assignments, he has conducted missions in drug interdiction, alien migrant interdiction, search and rescue, homeland security, defense operations, and port security. He has also held a staff assignment at the Coast Guard's Budget and Program Review Office during the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. In addition to his bachelor’s degree from the Coast Guard Academy, Commander Roth holds a M.P.A. from George Mason University. He is a designated Coast Guard cutterman and has received numerous personal, unit, campaign, and service military awards during his career, including five Meritorious Service Medals.