Coast Guard Capt. James Bendle relieved Capt. Anthony Jones as commander, Coast Guard Sector Sault Ste. Marie during a change-of-command ceremony on Friday, June 23, here.
Rear Adm. Jonathan Hickey, commander, Ninth Coast Guard District, presided over the ceremony. Capt. Jones will report to Coast Guard Headquarters, in Washington D.C. where he will take over as the Personnel Service Center Deputy.
Capt. Bendle served as the Sector Deputy Commander for Sector Maryland-National Capital Region. Capt. Bendle enlisted in 1997 and was assigned to Coast Guard Station Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he advanced from Seaman to Boatswain’s Mate Second Class. He was commissioned through Officer Candidate School in 2002. His previous assignments include Group Woods Hole Operations Department, Executive Officer of the Northeast Regional Fisheries Training Center, Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Station Grand Isle, Assistant School Chief of Officer Candidate School, Enforcement Division Chief at Sector Honolulu, and most recently served as an assignment officer and career counselor at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
Sector Sault Ste. Marie is responsible for all Coast Guard missions on Lake Superior, the St. Marys River, Northern Lake Michigan, and Northern Lake Huron, an area that encompasses 1,850 miles of shoreline and 560 miles of international maritime border with Canada.
The team at Sector Sault Ste. Marie is comprised of a dedicated workforce of 336 Active Duty, 31 Reserve, and 25 civilian personnel. Sector Sault Ste. Marie has oversight of seven Coast Guard units that conduct and support all Coast Guard missions. The Sector responds to approximately 300 Search and Rescue cases and performs over 2,000 vessel boardings annually. The Sector’s two Aids to Navigation Teams (ANT) are responsible for the proper operation and correct positioning of over 561 navigational aids, including the placement and removal of 148 seasonal aids. The Sector operates the St. Marys River Vessel Traffic Service, which annually directs the nation’s largest domestic icebreaking effort through Operation Taconite.
