In this candid account Kramek traces his experiences from his boyhood in New York City to his service as Coast Guard Commandant and an executive with the American Bureau of Shipping. He graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1961 and served initially on board the high-endurance cutter Mackinac (WHEC-371), 1961-64; Graduate school at the University of Michigan, 1964-66; 1966-70 in an apprentice program at the Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland; in the engineering section of Coast Guard Headquarters, 1970-72; from 1972 to 1975 as chief of naval engineering for Coast Guard District 17, Juneau, Alaska; 1975 to 1977 as executive officer of the high-endurance cutter Gallatin (WHEC-721)

head of ship maintenance at Coast Guard Headquarters from 1977 to 1980; as a student at the Naval War College, 1980-81; commanded the high endurance cutter Midgett (WHEC-726)

in 1983-84 served as chief of engineering/civil rights and human relations officer at 12th Coast Guard District headquarters in San Francisco; from 1984 to 1986 commanded the Coast Guard base on Governors Island, New York; served 1986-88 as Deputy Chief of Staff at Coast Guard Headquarters; as Commander 13th Coast Guard District, Seattle, Washington, 1998-1990; from 1990 to 1992 commanded the Seventh Coast Guard District, Miami, Florida; as Chief of Staff at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, 1992-94; served 1994-98 as Commandant of the Coast Guard; and as an executive of the American Bureau of Shipping, 1998-2006. Post-retirement activities have been dominated by family events and service on many boards.