After 32 years at sea, Chief Warrant Officer Paul Zado doesn't just measure his Coast Guard career by the cutters he served aboard, the commands he held or the historic moments he witnessed.
He measures it in people.
The shipmates who stood watch beside him, the young members who grew into confident professionals, the crews who shared long deployments and ordinary days underway, and the friends who stayed part of his life long after transfer orders sent them in different directions.
Zado always knew he'd serve at least 20 years. Beyond that, he gave himself a simpler measure for deciding when it was time to leave.
"I told myself I was going to do it until I stopped having fun," Zado said.
As it turned out, he kept having fun. His career ultimately spanned more than three decades and a period of profound change. He served through the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and watched navigation evolve from paper charts, compasses and bearing lines to GPS satellites and digital displays. He also spent eight years in command of Coast Guard Cutter Pamlico, an extraordinary tenure that reflected both his experience and the trust placed in his leadership.
Yet the longer he reflects on his career, the clearer the lesson becomes: milestones may define the record, but relationships define the experience.
"The people are what kept me in," Zado said.
Throughout his career, Zado learned that every assignment is what a service member chooses to make of it. Some of his duty stations weren't at the top of every member's wish list, but he embraced each place the Coast Guard sent him, to name a few, South Padre Island, Texas; Ketchikan, Alaska; Carrabelle, Florida; Astoria, Oregon; and New Orleans. Every community had something to offer, every crew had something to teach, and every assignment became part of a life well lived.
"The minute that you don't embrace where you're at and you don't look for the good," Zado said, "it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of misery."
It's a lesson he hopes younger Coast Guard members take to heart: don't wait until transfer season to start living.
"Time flies," Zado said. "I don't care if you're having fun or not having fun. Time flies."
Rather than saving adventures for the final months at a unit, he encourages members to start their bucket lists on day one — explore the community, say yes to opportunities, build friendships that outlast a set of orders. And take pictures, he says, not just of sunsets and scenery, but of the people standing beside you. Those photographs preserve the relationships built through midnight watches, long patrols and the kind of camaraderie found aboard a cutter.
"You see the good, the bad and the ugly of people because you can't walk away at the end of the day," Zado said.
During one assignment after Sept. 11, dozens of young non-rates rotated through his cutter as the Coast Guard expanded to meet new operational demands. Years later, many of those former shipmates reached out after hearing of his retirement — calls, emails and texts arriving from across the country, reconnecting him with people from every stage of his career. For Zado, that outreach was one of the clearest measures of a life of service.
Behind that career was another constant: his family. He credits his wife, whom he calls his best friend, with supporting every transfer, deployment and challenge that came with life in uniform. Her willingness to embrace each new chapter gave him the foundation to keep serving for more than three decades.
Retirement won't take Zado far from the service or the community that shaped his life. As he transitions out of uniform, he plans to keep supporting the Coast Guard as a civilian, carrying the experience and lessons of his military career into a new role.
After 32 years at sea, the ships and assignments tell where Zado served. The people tell the story of why he stayed and why his connection to the Coast Guard will continue.
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Imagery of BOSN Zado's retirement can be found here:
 U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Paul Zado renders a salute during his retirement ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana, July 10, 2026. Zado and the crew of the USCGC Pamlico were responsible for developing an alternate waterway following hurricane Ida's devastation of the lower Mississippi River. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Cheyenne Basurto)
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