LCDR Horton joined the Coast Guard in 1987 and was assigned to the USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB-11) following graduation from Training Center Cape May, New Jersey. Later, after graduation from the Aviation Training Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, he was assigned to Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, where he worked on both HH65A helicopters and HC130 aircraft as an Aviation Electrician’s Mate. Following his first tour, LCDR Horton attended the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, Michigan, graduating in 1995 as a Coast Guard licensed third mate of unlimited tonnage vessels, as well as a first class pilot of vessels upon the five great lakes and the Saint Marys, Saint Clair, and Detroit Rivers. He subsequently sailed on a variety of Merchant Marine vessels around the world, including bulk grain carriers, oil tankers, ferries, and high capacity passenger vessels.

Following the attacks of September 11th, 2001, LCDR Horton returned to active duty through the Direct Commission Maritime Academy Graduate program, and after attending Direct Commission Officer school at the Coast Guard Academy, served in both the command center and Port Operations department of Marine Safety Office Hampton Roads. Later, as the MSO transitioned to Sector Hampton Roads, he served as both a Senior Marine Inspector and the assistant chief of Port Safety and Security. In 2004, LCDR Horton served as the team supervisor of the RAID Team, a group of Coast Guardsmen attached to the U.S. Army in Kuwait and Iraq, tasked with advising and assisting in the shipment of hazardous materials in Southwest Asia. In 2005, following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, he served as chief of vessel salvage operations at Sector Mobile, Alabama and, from 2007 to 2010, he was assigned to Sector Detroit as the Chief of the Inspections and Investigations Division. LCDR Horton attended the University of Connecticut where he received a Master of Arts in English. He is currently assigned as an assistant professor of English at the United States Coast Guard Academy.  

• M.A., English, University of Connecticut, 2012
• B.A., Writing and Literature, Burlington College, 2002
• A.A.S, Maritime Technology, Great Lakes Maritime Academy, 1995

• Writing about Literature
• Composition and Speech

• Gordon Lightfoot Scholarship, Great Lakes Maritime Academy, 1994

• Coast Guard Commendation Medal with Operational Distinguishing Device(3)
• Army Commendation Medal
• Department of Transportation 9-11 Medal
• Coast Guard Achievement Medal with Operational Distinguishing Device
• Army Achievement Medal
• Commandant’s Letter of Commendation with Operational Distinguishing Device (2)
• U.S Coast Guard Combat Action Ribbon
• U.S. Army Combat Action Badge
• Marine Safety Insignia

• “Standing Watch”, Long River Review, 2012

• National Council of Teachers of English
• The Hemingway Society
• Veterans of Foreign Wars