December's Veteran Of The Month: Kevin Rofidal

Petty Officer Kevin Rofidal is assigned to Coast Guard Station Duluth, Minn. where he serves as a boarding officer and law enforcement instructor.

Petty Officer Rofidal grew up in Minnesota and joined the Coast Guard in 2000 under the direct entry petty officer enlistment program while serving as a police officer. He is a Sergeant with the Edina Police Department – a suburb of Minneapolis. His nearly 19-year police career has spanned a variety of assignments including being a canine handler, firearms instructor and currently a team leader of the SWAT team.

Petty Officer Rofidal has deployed with the Coast Guard for responses to Hurricane Ike, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the I-35W Bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Most notably, Petty Officer Rofidal has spent a great deal of time researching historic cases of fallen shipmates who have died in the line of duty during Coast Guard operations, dating back to the "rum running days." Two of these shipmates have been added to the National Law Enforcement Memorial in our nation's capital while several more applications are pending.

In 2012, Rofidal was selected as the Reserve Enlisted Petty Officer of the Year for the Ninth District (Great Lakes).