Coast Guard Sector Columbia River held a change of command ceremony last Thursday in Portland.
During the ceremony, Capt. Justin Noggle relieved Capt. Scott Jackson as the commander of Coast Guard Sector Columbia River.
Rear Adm. Melvin Bouboulis, the commander of the 13th Coast Guard District, presided over the ceremony.
Noggle most recently served as the deputy sector commander for Sector Columbia River. Jackson will continue his Coast Guard career by serving as the commanding officer for Coast Guard Air Station Astoria.
“This reorganization will result in significant improvements to the Coast Guard’s Command and Control capability and workforce management throughout the region,” said Jackson. “At Sector Columbia River, this will result in closing a longstanding and unnecessary gap between our geographically separated response and prevention divisions, key leaders and teams that are currently separated by a distance of over two hours, while also aligning their currently different geographic areas of responsibility.”
The change-of-command ceremony is a time-honored military tradition that marks a transfer of total responsibility and authority from one individual to another. The ceremony is conducted to formally demonstrate the continuity of authority within a U.S. military command.
Sector Columbia River, Sector North Bend, and Marine Safety Unit Portland were consolidated into a combined facility at MSU Portland’s current location.
The consolidated area of responsibility for Sector Columbia River encompasses 640 miles of coastal Oregon and southern Washington extending from the California border up to Greys Harbor, Washington.
No operational assets, including small boat stations and their boats, air stations and their aircraft, or Coast Guard cutters will be relocated or otherwise impacted by this re-organization.
