Public Affairs Detachment New York
U.S. Coast Guard

Date:June 14, 2006 
Public Affairs
(212) 668-7114

Media Advisory

Coast Guard Captain of the Port New York and New Jersey Change of Command

New York - Captain Robert R. O'Brien, Jr. will relieve Captain Glenn A. Wiltshire as Commander of U. S. Coast Guard Sector New York and as Captain of the Port of New York/New Jersey at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, June 15, 2006 at the Staten Island Homeport Pier, 355 Front St., Staten Island.  Media are invited to attend the ceremony.

The Change of Command is steeped in the rich heritage of naval tradition and recognizes the transfer of authority and responsibility from one commander to another while preserving the continuity of command vital to any military organization.  The transfer of authority and responsibility culminates when both officers read their orders, face one another and salute each other.  Rear Admiral David P. Pekoske, Commander of the First Coast Guard District headquartered in Boston, will officiate.

Captain Wiltshire, a native of Little Falls, NJ, and a 1976 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, will retire from the U.S. Coast Guard after 30 years of service.

As the Captain of the Port of New York/New Jersey, Wiltshire led the largest operational field unit, with responsibility for the safety and security of one of the nation's largest port complexes, during a continuing and challenging period of port security awareness.  Under his responsibility as Federal Maritime Security Coordinator, Wiltshire has responded as the Incident Commander to several potential threats to the Port, including a suspected hazardous biological substance threat aboard the Containership Rio Puelo.  He ensured the 25 federal, state, and local coordinating agencies and maritime industry representatives executed response operations, under extreme time limits, while addressing security, legal, economic and policy issues to successfully mitigate the potential threat.

Captain O'Brien, a native of Savannah, GA, enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1970.  Rising through the ranks, he commanded several Coast Guard units while both enlisted and officer, including a Coast Guard cutter, and Aids to Navigation Teams.  Commissioned in 1983, O'Brien has served a variety of assignments in the service's marine safety profession responding to chemical and oil spills to quickly mitigate environmental impact.  He was promoted to Captain in 2003, and assumed command of Marine Safety Office Hampton Roads, which eventually became Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads in 2005.

Coast Guard Sector New York is located on historic Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, NY.  It is the largest operational field command in the Coast Guard, and its area of responsibly stretches from Long Beach, N.J., includes all of New York Harbor, and continues northward up the Hudson River to just south of Lake Champlain.

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