Changing of the Guard at U.S.C.G. Air Station San Francisco

Coast Guard Capt. Christopher Huberty has replaced Capt. Thomas Cooper as the commanding officer of Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco. 

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Brian K. Penoyer presided over the change-of-command ceremony which was held in San Francisco on Friday 17 June 2022.

Huberty takes command of approximately 175 Air Station San Francisco personnel and eight MH-65 Dolphin helicopters, which conduct search and rescue, law enforcement, homeland security and maritime environmental protection missions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as similar operations in the greater Los Angeles region with aircraft and crews working from the unit’s Forward Operating Base Point Mugu.

Captain Huberty recently completed an assignment as the Eleventh Coast Guard District Incident Management Branch Chief, where he oversaw all search and rescue and marine environmental responses in the district's approximately 3 million-square-mile area of responsibility.

Huberty’s predecessor, Cooper, had served as Air Station San Francisco commanding officer since 2019, and retired after 28 meritorious years of Coast Guard service.

Air Station San Francisco, along with Forward Operating Base Point Mugu, supports the Coast Guard's statutory missions along 650 miles of coastline, including the ports of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Long Beach.

The Coast Guard is unique among the United States military branches insomuch as its charter comprises a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both United States domestic and international waters, and a federal regulatory agency mission. It is the largest and most powerful coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies.

At any given time, the U.S. Coast Guard is deployed to and operating on all seven of the world’s continents, and about the business of saving lives, enforcing laws, ensuring safe and secure commerce, protecting the environment, and getting in a little clandestine waterskiing.

FMI: https://www.uscg.mil