Nicolas Porta

Nicholas (Nic) Porta is a Charleston, WV native and former U.S. Coast Guard officer, who currently works as a Project Manager offshore for BP Gulf of Mexico. 

Nic is a 2003 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where he received a B.S. Government and quarterbacked the NCAA DIII football team, lettering all four years.  He also holds an M.A. Management and Leadership from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA (2011), and has nearly completed his Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from West Virginia University.

Porta's military assignments included shipboard roles on Coast Guard Cutters based out of Charlevoix, MI, and Portsmouth, VA, performing search and rescue, narcotics and migrant interdiction, and aids to navigation duties. Additionally, Nicholas has had multiple assignments working with the U.S. Navy.  As the Officer in Charge of a specialized law enforcement team, Nic deployed on Navy ships to conduct counter narcotics missions, and confiscated approximately 15 metric tons of cocaine through multiple drug seizures.  His other Navy assignment was as Executive Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard detachment to Afloat Training Group, Atlantic, where Nic led his team of subject matter experts to certify Atlantic Area Coast Guard Cutters for operations. Nic’s final Coast Guard assignment was in St. Petersburg, Florida, as an emergency operations manager, where he oversaw response to maritime emergencies such as search and rescue, environmental spill response, and law enforcement issues for the Gulf Coast of Florida.

In 2013, Nic left the Coast Guard for a position with BP, where he initially trained to be a Wellsite Leader in charge of all rig-based operations in Alaska.  Once he successfully completed the Wellsite Leader advanced development program, Nic was selected for the BP Subsea Blowout Preventer (BOP) Reliability Team, where he utilizes his maritime and military experience to verify BOPs are safe, compliant, and reliable prior to their deployment subsea.  In early 2016, Nic assumed the position as Chairperson for Vets4Energy in West Virginia, which a non-profit comprised of military veterans that advocate for domestic energy production to strengthen U.S. national security, and also promotes veteran’s hiring initiatives to U.S. energy companies.

During his military career, Nicholas was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard Commendation Medal, U.S. Navy Commendation Medal, and numerous USCG and USN Achievement medals and letters of commendation.