He was also the Judge Advocate General and Chief Counsel of the United States Coast Guard.

He has also served as the Staff Judge Advocate for the Seventh Coast Guard District in Miami, Florida and as the Chief of Staff for Homeland Security Task Force Southeast, an interagency task force charged with planning for and executing Caribbean mass migration deterrence and response operations.

Previous legal assignments also include tours at the Eighth Coast Guard District, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Coast Guard Maintenance & Logistics Command Pacific in Alameda, California, and Naval Legal Services Office West in San Francisco, California.

Prior to joining the Coast Guard's legal program, Baumgartner specialized in surface operations and served as the Commanding Officer of USCGC Point Verde and USCGC Penobscot Bay, as a deck officer on USCGC Dependable, and as an operations center controller for the Eighth Coast Guard District where he directed Search and Rescue, law enforcement and other Coast Guard operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

[2] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Coast Guard.