President Barack Obama has nominated Vice Adm. Peter V. Neffenger to be the next vice commandant of the Coast Guard.

If confirmed by the Senate, Neffenger would succeed Vice Adm. John P. Currier and become the 29th vice commandant and second-in-command of the service in May.

Neffenger is currently the Coast Guard’s deputy commandant for operations. As such, he is responsible for establishing and providing operational strategy, policy, guidance and resources as needed to meet national priorities for Coast Guard missions, programs and services.

A native of Elyria, Ohio, Neffenger was commissioned in 1982 at Coast Guard Officer Candidate School in Yorktown, Va.

Neffenger has had a variety of assignments in his 32-year Coast Guard career, including overseeing Coast Guard operations throughout the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway region as the Ninth Coast Guard District commander, and serving as deputy national incident commander for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010.

Vice Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, who coordinated the federal response to the oil spill, has been nominated to lead the Coast Guard. Zukunft currently commands the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area.

j.mcdermott@theday.com