Calvin L. Scovel III

Inspector General

United States Department of Transportation

Mr. Scovel entered Scouting as a Cub Scout in Fairfield, IA, and earned his Webelos in Topsfield, MA, where his family moved when he was 10.  He then joined Troop 81 in Topsfield and moved through the ranks to Life, serving as Senior Patrol Leader and attending summer camp at Norshoco. 

A troop overnight hike in June 1965 in the Franconia Range of the White Mountains sparked an interest in backpacking, which led to an end-to-end trip, Georgia to Maine, on the Appalachian Trail in 1974. 

After his family moved to Hampstead, NH, he earned his Eagle in Troop 33, attended the World Jamboree in 1967, worked on the staff at Lone Tree and Katahdin (East Eddington, ME) Scout Reservations, and spent two summers guiding canoe trips from the Matagamon and Seboomook bases of the Maine National High Adventure Area.   

Mr. Scovel went on to serve 29 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, from which he retired as a Brigadier General.  His last military assignment was as a senior judge on the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals.

 He previously served as Assistant Judge Advocate General of the Navy for Military Justice, the principal advisor to the Secretary of the Navy and the Judge Advocate General on all criminal justice policy matters.  He also commanded a military police battalion, which provided all security and law enforcement services for Marine Corps Base, Quantico, VA.

 Mr. Scovel served as senior legal advisor for the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which included all Marine amphibious forces in Operation Desert Storm and later in a NATO exercise above the Arctic Circle in Norway.  He had previously served as legal advisor for a Marine amphibious unit deployed to the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans, where it conducted exercises in Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, Kenya, and Australia.

 A Marine judge advocate, Mr. Scovel served as prosecutor, defense counsel, or judge in 250 courts-martial that included charges of murder, rape, child sexual assault, and drug trafficking.  

As an adjunct faculty member for the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies, Mr. Scovel led instruction teams in the rule of law and civilian control of the military for senior civilian and military officials in Honduras, Mauritius, Albania, and Serbia.  He was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.  His military awards include the Legion of Merit (four awards) and Combat Action Ribbon.  

Mr. Scovel received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his juris doctor degree from Duke Law School.  He also received a master’s degree from the Naval War College.  

 President George W. Bush nominated Mr. Scovel to serve as the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation on July 13, 2006.  He was confirmed by the Senate on September 29, 2006, and sworn in on October 27, 2006.  

Mr. Scovel is married and has two sons, who are both Eagles.  Carey is a 2006 graduate of Elon University and serves as a police officer in Charlotte, NC.  Thomas is a Midshipman 2d Class (junior) at the U.S. Naval Academy.