Veterans Education at Albertus Magnus College

Originally from Weatherly, PA, Lieutenant Tim Kessell reported to Coast Guard Recruit Basic Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey in August, 1998. Upon basic training graduation, he served as a crewmember aboard Coast Guard Cutter BEAR homeported in Portsmouth, VA, conducting vital national security deployments throughout the North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. In the summer of 1999, his crew deployed with the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet to the Adriatic Sea in combat support of “Operation Allied Force”, NATO's military campaign against the forces of the former Republic of Yugoslavia during the NATO Kosovo campaign.

In 2000, Lieutenant Kessell was selected to attend the Coast Guard’s elite Helicopter Rescue Swimmer School, earning his designation as Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer #513. Upon graduation, he reported for duty to AIRSTA Elizabeth City in North Carolina (2000-2005), where he performed hundreds of search and rescue missions, including support of Hurricane Katrina response operations in the Gulf Coast region in 2005. Later that year, he was offered an opportunity to return to the Aviation Technical Training Center as an “A” School Instructor where he had the privilege of training and mentoring the Coast Guard’s future Helicopter Rescue Swimmers.

Selected for Officer Candidate School in 2009, Lieutenant Kessell began his commissioned officer career upon reporting to Sector Long Island Sound in New Haven, CT as the Incident Management Division Chief supporting nine Sector sub-units and Cutters. In 2012, he reported to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. His Academy tours included duty as regional Admissions Officer, Assistant Director of Operations, International Cadet Exchange Program Manager, Coast Guard Academy Preparatory School Manager, and finally as the Associate Director of Recruiting where he was responsible for the Coast Guard Academy’s national talent acquisition strategy of our country’s top students.

Lieutenant Kessell retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in the summer of 2020. His personal awards include the Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, two Coast Guard Achievement Medals, three Coast Guard Letters of Commendation, and various other unit and service ribbons. He is authorized to wear the Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Swimmer Aircrew insignia. Lieutenant Kessell holds a BA in Political Science from American Public University System, an advanced certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University, and is currently seeking a Master’s degree in Education. He lives in the shoreline town of Madison, CT with his wife Melissa and their 12-year-old son, Nate.