PASCAGOULA, Miss. (May 11, 2017)—Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (NYSE:HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has named Charley Diaz the new corporate director of customer affairs for small surface combatants and U.S. Coast Guard programs.

“Charley is joining the HII family after a long and distinguished career in the United States Coast Guard,” said Daniel Holloway, corporate vice president, customer affairs. “As a retired captain and four-time cutter commanding officer, Charley understands the needs of our Coast Guard customer and has demonstrated throughout his career the leadership capability and skills needed to help HII grow and strengthen our customer affairs programs.”

Prior to joining HII, Diaz was chief of staff for the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area, where he led an interdisciplinary staff in managing the Pacific cutter fleet, including several National Security Cutters built by Ingalls Shipbuilding. Most recently, he was CEO of Diaz, LLC, a maritime consultant. He earned a bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a master of public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School.

Diaz has held many positions throughout his 30 years of U.S. Coast Guard service, including the first executive director of Force Readiness Command; acting director of the International Affairs Directorate; and maritime homeland security advisor to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In 2007, as commanding officer of USCGC Sherman (WHEC 720), Diaz led his crew in the largest drug bust in maritime history. He is also a recipient of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Golden Eagle award.