Coast Guard Capt. Jennifer Stockwell relieved Capt. Samson Stevens as commander of Coast Guard Sector Virginia during a change of command ceremony at Coast Guard Sector Virginia, Wednesday.
Rear Adm. Shannon N. Gilreath, commander of the Fifth Coast Guard District, presided over the ceremony.
Capt. Stockwell has served as the deputy commander of Coast Guard Sector Virginia since June 2020. Her prior assignments include Chief of Prevention at Coast Guard Sector San Francisco.
She graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in 1998, with a Bachelor of Science in Marine and Environmental Science and earned a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering in 2002 from Johns Hopkins University. She has served in a broad array of operational, marine safety, and staff assignments throughout her career.
Sector Virginia is composed of nearly 530 active duty, civilian, and Reservists, along with over 550 Coast Guard Auxiliary members. The sector’s sub-units include six multi-mission boat stations, three 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, York, and Rappahannock rivers; the Intracoastal Waterway; and several inland lakes. It also encompasses the Port of Virginia and is the gateway to vessels entering Baltimore and Washington D.C.
