Karl L. Schultz

Karl Leo Schultz is a retired United States Coast Guard admiral who served as the 26th commandant of the Coast Guard from 2018 to 2022.

Early life and education Schultz is a native of East Hartford, Connecticut. He graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering. He then earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Connecticut in 1992 and completed a one-year National Security Fellowship at the Kennedy School of Government in 2006. Schultz poses with Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf being recognized as the Coast Guard’s Service Secretary during a ceremony at Coast Guard Air Station Washington, D.C. Schultz has served as Director of Operations (J3), United States Southern Command in Doral, Florida where he directed joint service military operations across the Caribbean Basin, Central and South America. Prior flag officer assignments were Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard District, where he was responsible for multi-mission operations from California to Peru, and Director of Governmental and Public Affairs at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for external engagement with Congress, the media, and inter-governmental entities. His nomination and promotion to admiral was confirmed by a voice vote of the United States Senate on May 9, 2018. Schultz relieved Zukunft on June 1, 2018.

In June 2018, the House of Representatives launched an 18-month investigation into the culture of the Coast Guard, stemming from whistleblowers who alleged sexual assault, racism, bullying, and retaliation. At the conclusion of the two committee joint inquiry, called Righting The Ship, Congress concluded that the Coast Guard top brass had bullied and retaliated against an active duty female professor at the Coast Guard Academy.

On December 12, 2019, in an unprecedented move, Schultz refused to appear before Congress at the Righting The Ship hearing to answer questions about the culture of abuse and cover up. Several media outlets and members of Congress in the House and Senate communicated their frustration about the culture of the Coast Guard set by leaders at the top.

After a CNN investigative reporting into a sexual assault scandal dubbed Operation Fouled Anchor, it was revealed in an overlapping timeline as the Righting Ship inquiry, that Schultz also failed to act on plans to share the findings with Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, and the public of an investigation into rape and sexual assault in the Coast Guard Academy. His tenure as commandant ended on June 1, 2022, and he retired later that day. His attendance at the 40th year reunion for the Coast Guard Academy Class of 1983 in the wake of the cover-up was concerning to some attendees. After listening to four women describe being sexually assaulted as U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets, members of the United States Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations probing a "culture of cover-up" vowed to hold past and current Coast Guard leadership accountable. "We're going to pursue those two individuals and others," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chairman of the Subcommittee, referring to retired Admiral Karl L. Schultz, the former commandant of the Coast Guard, and his successor, the then-current commandant, Admiral Linda Fagan.

On 25 July 2024, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability investigating the Coast Guard’s mishandling of serious misconduct, including racism, hazing, discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and the failure to disclose internal investigations into those issues to Congress requested that Admiral Schultz participate in a voluntary transcribed interview. The Committee stated that "ne of the key questions the Committee is examining is the extent to which senior USCG leadership willfully concealed internal reports from Congress that would have informed policy changes needed to combat, and further prevent, future incidents of misconduct. As the Commandant of the Coast Guard during the finalization of [Operation Fouled Anchor], the Committee is interested in learning more about what actions you took to notify Congress or conceal misconduct. We believe that as the former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, you have information that will assist us in fully understanding the extent to which USCG withheld these reports from Congress, how these incidents of misconduct were handled, and what actions USCG took regarding those responsible. We therefore request that you make yourself available voluntarily for a transcribed interview."

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