In 2005, Admiral James M. Loy, USCG (ret.), completed a 45-year career in public service, retiring as the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. Prior to the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002, Mr. Loy served in the Department of Transportation as Deputy Under Secretary for Security and Chief Operating Officer of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and later as Under Secretary for Security.

Admiral James M. Loy retired from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2002, having served as its Commandant since May 1998.  Prior to his service as Commandant, Admiral Loy served as the Coast Guard Chief of Staff from 1996 to 1998, during which time he redesigned the headquarters management structure and overhauled the Coast Guard planning and budgeting process to focus more sharply on performance and results. From 1994 to 1996, he was Commander of the Coast Guard's Atlantic Area, supervising U.S. forces during the mass Haitian and Cuban migrations of 1994, and leading Coast Guard forces participating in Operation Restore Democracy.

A career seagoing officer, Admiral James Loy has served tours aboard six Coast Guard cutters, including command of a patrol boat in combat during the Vietnam War and command of major cutters in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. James M. Loy is the co-author of Character in Action: The U.S. Coast Guard on Leadership and Architecture of Leadership.

According to the book description of Architecture of Leadership, it “is a simple but effective toolkit for leaders, whose main theme is 'preparation = performance.' Using the elements of architecture, they begin with a foundation of character and values, move to a floor representing a drive to achieve combined with the capacity to care, and continue with the framework of innate traits and acquired skills to the ceiling and roof of opportunity and performance, respectively. Supporting it all are the pillars of honesty, integrity, courage, respect, commitment, trust, ethics, and hard work.”

According to the book description of Character in Action: The U.S. Coast Guard on Leadership, “How does the U.S. Coast Guard create, instill, and maintain leadership throughout a 40,000 member force spread across the United States? A former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and a best-selling author combine their knowledge of the subject to offer a formula for success. Donald T. Phillips, who has written eight books on leadership, asserts that the Coast Guard is a superlative example of an organization with effective leadership, loaded with leaders at all levels. From a guardsman scraping barnacles off buoys in the Gulf of Mexico to the captain of a cutter in the Gulf of Alaska to the Commandant in Washington, they know exactly what leadership is, how it works, and why it is important. This case study in leadership uses the Coast Guard as an example for other organizations who want to imbue leadership to every single one of its members. An effective leadership beacon, the book is replete with tangible examples, vivid anecdotes, and explicit guidelines on how to instill leadership throughout an entire organization. Stories abound on Coast Guard efficiency, innovation, and heroism and many are used to illustrate the service's effectiveness and to engage the reader. From the military and government communities to the business world, a variety of organizations can benefit from this outstanding leadership guide.”