§ 414(a)(5) ($4,000 per annum in 2009), and is accorded privilege of the floor under Senate Rule XXIII(1) as a de facto Joint Chiefs of Staff member during presidential addresses.

The title of commandant dates to a 1923 act that distributed the commissioned line and engineer officers of the U.S. Coast Guard in grades.

The Coast Guard traces the lineage of commandants back to Captain Leonard G. Shepard, chief of the Revenue Marine-Bureau, even though he never officially received the title of captain-commandant.

Although he was retired, Ross's predecessor, Captain Charles F. Shoemaker, was elevated to the rank of captain-commandant.

There have been 28 commandants of the Coast Guard since the office of chief of the Revenue-Marine Bureau was transferred to a military billet.