James Loy Admiral James Milton Loy ( born August 10 , 1942 ) served as Acting United States Secretary of Homeland Security in 2005 and United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security ( DHS ) from December 4 , 2003 , to March 1 , 2005 . Prior to his appointment as Deputy Secretary , he served as the second administrator of the Transportation Security Administration from 2002 to 2003 , and before that as the Commandant of the Coast Guard from 1998 to 2002 . Life and career . Born in Altoona , Pennsylvania , Loy earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America as a youth and was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award as an adult . Loy entered the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1960 . Subsequently , he earned a masters degree in history and government from Wesleyan University . He served as a commissioned officer in the U . S . Coast Guard , served in combat as commanding officer of a patrol boat in Vietnam , and eventually rose to the rank of Admiral . In May 1998 , Loy became the twenty first Commandant of the Coast Guard , serving in that post until 2002 . As Commandant , Loy reacted to the terrorist attacks of 9 / 11 . In the short term , he supervised the resumption of sea - borne trade throughout the US , after the USCG had shut down most major ports after the attacks . In the long term , ADM Loy led the US delegation to the International Maritime Organization ( IMO ) , and was instrumental in ensuring that the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code was approved and implemented in 2002 . The code came into effect in 2004 . In May , 2002 , Secretary of the U . S . Department of Transportation Norman Mineta appointed Loy to become the Deputy Undersecretary for the newly formed Transportation Security Administration . Loy led the agency through its creation and subsequent incorporation into the Department of Homeland Security . On October 23 , 2003 , Loy was nominated as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security by President George W . Bush , and sworn in on December 4 , 2003 . Following the departure of Tom Ridge , Loy filled in as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security from February 1 , 2005 , until February 15 , 2005 , when Michael Chertoff was confirmed and sworn into office . Joining the exodus of leadership , Loy resigned as Deputy Secretary , effective March 1 , 2005 . As noted in Loy ' s biography published by the United States Coast Guard : On April 7 , 2005 , the Cohen Group announced that Loy had joined the firm as a Senior Counselor , effective April 18 . On August 5 , 2005 , Loy joined the Board of Directors for Lockheed Martin . Before his retirement from the Department of Homeland Security , Loy enacted a series of requirements for Merchant Mariners which were supposedly created to " streamline " the transportation worker ' s identification process . This process is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration ( TSA ) . In the new system , workers who had previously received a Merchant Mariner ' s Document ( MMD ) , which served as both an ID and a credential , now had to acquire two separate documents , a Merchant Mariner ' s Credential ( MMC ) , and a Transportation Worker ' s Identification Credential ( TWIC ) . Loy ' s system , designed to " streamline " the process , has not proven very effective and is a source of discontent among transportation workers . The TWIC card , the ID component for workers , is rarely accepted as a legitimate form of identification , despite its being a government issued ID . And the MMC , which outlines a workers credentials in his or her industry , is a cumbersome document not meant to be carried as an ID . The result is an inefficient system . In the Fall of 2006 it was announced that ADM Loy was being honored as the first Chair of the Tyler Institute for Leadership at the US Coast Guard Academy . As such Admiral Loy has played a significant role in speaking and drawing other distinguished visitors to the Academy . His first class was designed to teach a select group of cadet s about the international shipping industry and how it might be secured . In March 2007 the " Washington Post " had a feature on Admiral Loy and his relation to the Coast Guard ' s Deepwater contract , which was awarded to Lockheed Martin in summer of 2002 . When asked by the " Washington Post " if he ever faced improper influence on Deepwater decisions while serving as Commandant , Loy said : " The question is almost insulting . I will pass on giving you any kind of answer . "