Captain Lee A. Kincaid

President

An honors graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York, Captain Kincaid sailed for 15 years in all merchant marine deck officer positions including Master.

He recently served as the Director of Government Affairs for Project ACTA. Project ACTA was a US Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Foundation program that promoted the interests of the US Merchant Marine Academy, the US maritime industry, and national security. In this capacity, Lee coordinated legislative issues and educated Congress and regulatory agency representatives to promote the interests of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the U.S. Flag Merchant Marine, and the nation’s security.

Captain Kincaid served as Deputy Executive Director of the National Cargo Security Council in Annapolis, MD which was an association of transportation/security professionals from the transportation industry.

He also served for 10 years as Assistant Director of the MEBA Engineering School. In this capacity, he was responsible for the daily educational, operations, and administration of the school and associated facility. Captain Kincaid instituted the training for the implementation of the US Tankerman Regulations, chaired the developmental committee for the STCW Basic Safety Training assessments, and coordinated the USCG/MERPAC committee which developed the IMO mariner medical standards and participated in the development of the IMO and USCG training assessment standards.

Captain Kincaid was Port Captain for the Apex Marine Corporation and established Apex’s Beaumont, TX office to oversee maintenance and repair of vessels in the US Maritime Strategic Reserve Fleet. He is a former co-chairman of the MARAD Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP), and served for a number of years as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London.

He is the Past President of the Washington D.C. Chapter of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Foundation and past treasurer of the US Merchant Marine Academy Government Affairs Committee.

Captain Kincaid is a current member of the U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC) and a past member of the USCG Chemical Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC). He served on the Federal Academy Selection Committee for first district of Maryland and on the Smithsonian American History Museum Maritime Advisory Committee. Captain Kincaid is an admissions field representative for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

The Captain, a native of western Pennsylvania, graduated Kings Point in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Transportation and a minor in Maritime Law. Captain Kincaid received awards from the US Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Foundation in 2002 and 2007 for his professional achievements and his service to Kings Point. He has been published in various maritime industry resources. He is an auditor for the American Council on Education (ACE) for both commercial and military education programs and courses. Captain Kincaid also serves as an expert witness for maritime industry legal services and currently holds a fifth issue unlimited U.S. Coast Guard Masters license.

James E. Caponiti

Executive Director

Mr. Caponiti was appointed Executive Director of the American Maritime Congress (AMC) in October 2011 at the completion of more than 38 years of distinguished service with the Federal Government.

Mr. Caponiti’s predominant government service was his 37-year tenure with the Maritime Administration (MARAD) in the Department of Transportation. At MARAD, Mr. Caponiti performed in a variety of key management and executive positions culminating in his May 2008 appointment as Assistant Administrator, the senior Civil Servant and senior career Senior Executive Service Officer in the Agency. In that role, he assisted the Maritime Administrator and Deputy Maritime Administrator in the daily management and oversight of the entire range of complex programs administered by MARAD. His responsibility included the development of Agency strategic planning and policy analysis processes, and he served as the Agency lead for international relations.

During the transition to new political leadership from January 2009 to July 2009, Mr. Caponiti led MARAD as the Acting Deputy Maritime Administrator. During an earlier period of transition, Mr. Caponiti served from January 2001 to October 2002 as the Acting Deputy Maritime Administrator for Inland Waterways and Great Lakes.

Mr. Caponiti was appointed to the Senior Executive Service (SES) in March 1996 as the Maritime Administration's Associate Administrator for National Security where he served until May 2008. In that capacity, he was responsible for promoting and maintaining a U.S. merchant fleet to meet national security requirements. He was also responsible for the acquisition, maintenance, and management of a reserve fleet of Government-owned vessels to support Department of Defense sealift operations. Prior to his SES appointment, Mr. Caponiti was named Director, Office of Sealift Support, within the newly designated National Security area, as part of a major reorganization of the Maritime Administration in October 1994. In that capacity, he was responsible for developing and executing programs to maintain and utilize U.S. commercial sealift capability and seafaring personnel.

Mr. Caponiti served 14 years as the Chairman of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Planning Board for Ocean Shipping (PBOS), commencing with his election in October 1997 and continuing through four re-elections until his resignation at the time of his retirement from Federal service in September 2011. NATO PBOS (since 2010, known as Transport Group – Ocean Shipping) is responsible for developing and maintaining plans for civil shipping support to deploy NATO military forces during times of crisis and war.

In 1993, Mr. Caponiti served on a detail to the Merchant Marine Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he worked closely with Chairman William Lipinski in developing legislation to revitalize the U.S. Merchant Marine. That effort contributed significantly to the eventual passage of legislation to authorize and implement the Maritime Security Program.

In 1984, Mr. Caponiti received the Maritime Administration's Bronze Medal Award for his outstanding contributions to the Operating-Differential Subsidy Program. In 1996, he received the Department of Transportation’s Silver Medal Award for outstanding dedication and performance while advancing the Administration's merchant marine assistance programs and the Voluntarily Intermodal Sealift Agreement Program. In 2004, Mr. Caponiti received the Secretary of Transportation’s War on Terrorism Award. In 2000 and 2005 respectively, Mr. Caponiti received the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award and the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award, the highest Civil Service awards for Senior Executives.

Mr. Caponiti earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland in Business Administration, and he served in the Army National Guard from 1969 to 1975. He and his wife, Arlene, have a daughter and two sons. They reside in Rockville, Maryland.

Dianne Lauer

Executive Assistant

Dianne has been with the AMC since 1999 and resides in Annapolis, Maryland.