After graduation from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1929, future ADM Edwin J. Roland's earliest assignments were as gunnery officer on board the destroyers USCGD Shaw (CG-22) and USCGD Wilkes (CG-25), which were involved in the suppression of smuggling. From 1934 to 1938, he taught at the Coast Guard Academy and was assistant football coach. Later duties included serving as commanding officer of the cutter USS Nemesis (WPC-111) and as Commander Escort Division 45, which escorted convoys to the Mediterranean. He was chief of staff at the 9th Coast Guard District in Cleveland from 1946 through 1949, and then Commandant of Cadets at the Coast Guard Academy. In 1955, Roland was assigned to the National War College. He was then assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff at Coast Guard Headquarters. In February 1962, he was appointed Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, and four months later became the Commandant.
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