Retired Rear Adm. Paul Busick has been named FAA associate administrator for civil aviation security, replacing retired Army Gen. Michael Canavan, who resigned following September 11.

Busick is an aviator who has commanded the Coast Guard Air Station in San Francisco and the Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Ala. He has also served as deputy chief of the office of law enforcement and defense operations, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters. Following his promotion to rear admiral, he was appointed director of the DOT’s office of intelligence and security, where he served as the secretary’s national security advisor, with policy responsibility for security measures in all modes of transportation. The Coast Guard is part of the DOT.

In 1996 Busick joined the National Security Council as a special assistant to the president and senior director for Gulf War illnesses. He left active service in June 1998. Four months later, North Carolina Gov. James Hunt Jr. named Busick president and executive director of the state’s Global TransPark Authority, a business center supporting companies involved in international commerce. He was appointed to a presidential oversight board for certain Department of Defense investigations in April last year.

Busick’s military awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit. He has also received the DOT’s Distinguished Service Award and the FAA’s Extraordinary Service Medal.

A graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, he holds a master’s degree in
industrial administration from Purdue University and is a graduate of the National War College in Washington.