ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Former United States Naval Academy water polo athlete Lindsay Thomas Kough, KM was sworn in as the third Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of the Navy on July 27, 2020. Prior to his Chief of Staff role, he previously served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of several startups, and as a senior private bank executive.
A 1988 graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) with a Bachelor of Science in political science, he competed for two seasons on the Navy water polo team (1984-85) helping the team to a 45-12 record. In 1984, he aided the Midshipmen in posting a 23-5 mark to claim the program’s inaugural league championship and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship berth. He wrapped up his tenure by helping Navy post a 22-7 record under then rookie head coach/Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame member Mike Schofield.
Prior to USNA, he studied religion, philosophy, and public policy at Regis College (now Regis University) and the University of Denver. While studying at Regis College, Mr. Kough attended U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidate School, Platoon Leaders Course, Junior Course in June/July 1982. Mr. Kough graduated Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training in April 1989, and was designated a naval special warfare/SEAL officer in December 1989. His first operational assignment was SEAL Team THREE where in 1990 he deployed in a special operation platoon that trained foreign counterparts throughout the Western Pacific. In 1991, he served as Team Commander of the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, the “Leap Frogs,” and studied Japanese at the Defense Language Institute in 1992.
He left active duty in 1993, continuing his naval service in the Navy Reserve where he served at numerous commands to include as Commanding Officer of NR SEAL Team ONE; Commanding Officer, NR Commander Amphibious Squadron FIVE; Aide-de-Camp/Personal Security for the Director, Public Affairs, Multi-National Forces – Iraq (MNF-I); and Maritime Plans Officer, Special Operations Command, Central (SOCCENT).
In 1998, he attended and graduated the Public Affairs Officer Course at the Defense Information School in Ft. Meade, Maryland.
From October 2004 through March 2006, Kough was mobilized back on active duty as Special Assistant to Commander, Naval Special Warfare Group ONE; Special Operations Liaison Element (SOFLE) commander, US Embassy, Nairobi, Kenya; and Maritime Plans Officer, J-3 Special Operations Division [now Special Operation Command, Northern (SOCNORTH)]. Once off active duty, he continued to serve in the reserves as Executive Assistant to Commander, Fourth Air Force; Special Projects Officer, Intelligence Directorate, Defense Threat Reduction Agency; and Public Affairs Officer, Joint Public Affairs Support Element, US Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM).
Initially he began his private sector career as a financial consulting executive with CIGNA Financial Advisors (vice president at what is now Sagemark Consulting). He subsequently led private bank, trust and investment teams as president, First Western Trust Bank, DTC | Cherry Hills; as regional wealth advisor for 14 States at JP Morgan Private Client Services (now JP Morgan Private Bank); and as vice president, Key Private Bank.
While at JP Morgan in 2006, Mr. Kough co-founded and served as a director of Gryphon Airlines, an American-owned passenger airline serving the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. government contractors. From 2007 through 2011, the airline provided daily flights from Kuwait International Airport into Baghdad, Iraq, and from Dubai International Airport into Kandahar and Bagram Air Bases, Afghanistan. He also led the airlines’ air operations team in Kandahar, Afghanistan, from 2009 to 2010.
In 2011, he sold Gryphon Airlines and went on to focus on other entrepreneurial pursuits as a Knight of Malta in the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (Order of Malta); a former board member of the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum; an alumnus of The Honor Foundation; and a founder in Boomtown Accelerators’ Cohort 12.
Information courtesy United States Navy
