Leo Otis Colbert

Rear Admiral Leo Otis Colbert (31 December 1883 – 24 December 1968) was the third director of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and a career officer in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, predecessor of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps.

Early life Colbert was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 31 December 1883. After primary and secondary education in Boston, Massachusetts, he attended Tufts University, from which he graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1907.

Career Early career On 1 July 1907, Colbert began his career with the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, which at the time was an entirely civilian organization. He served in coastal waters of the United States, Philippines, and Territory of Alaska as an civilian officer aboard ships of the Coast and Geodetic Survey's fleet of survey ships, serving as navigator and executive officer, and in 1912 he became a commanding officer for the first time, taking command of a survey ship in Alaskan waters.

World War I After the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allies on 6 April 1917, Colbert became one of the original 119 commissioned officers of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps upon its creation as a new uniformed service of the United States on 22 May 1917, serving as a commissioned hydrographic and geodetic engineer. In accordance with Executive Order 2707, Colbert was among Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officers transferred to the jurisdiction of the United States Department of the Navy for wartime service with the United States Navy.

Death

Colbert died on 24 December 1968 at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, survived by his wife and two daughters. He was buried at Baltimore National Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, on 27 December 1968.

Commemoration

The Society of American Military Engineers Colbert Medal – a NOAA Association decoration awarded to a member of the National Ocean Service, officer or civilian, active or retired, for the most outstanding contribution to military engineering through achievement in design, construction, administration, research, or development – is named for Colbert.