Coast Guard Capt. Samson Stevens relieved Capt. Kevin Carroll as commander of Coast Guard Sector Virginia during a change of command ceremony at Coast Guard Base Portsmouth, Wednesday.
Rear Adm. Keith Smith, commander of the Fifth Coast Guard District, presided over the ceremony. Carroll is scheduled to retire after 26 years of service in the Coast Guard.
Stevens has served as the deputy commander of Coast Guard Sector Virginia since June 2018. Prior to that, he served as the special assistant to the 25th Commandant of the Coast Guard.
He graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in 1995, with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He has served in a broad array of operational, intelligence, joint, and staff assignments throughout his career.
Sector Virginia is comprised of nearly 480 active duty and civilian personnel, 130 reservists, and 1,300 auxiliary members. The sector’s sub-units include six multi-mission boat stations, five 87-foot patrol boats, three aids to navigation teams, and one sector field office.
Its area of responsibility encompasses the Atlantic coast along the entire state of Virginia and all navigable waters including the Chesapeake Bay; the Elizabeth, James, and Rappahannock Rivers; the Intracoastal Waterway; and several inland lakes. It also encompasses the Port of Virginia, which is the gateway to all vessels entering Baltimore and Washington D.C.
