Charles D. Wurster | |
---|---|
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | United States Coast Guard |
Years of service | 1971–2008 |
Rank | Vice admiral |
Commands held | USCG Pacific Area |
Awards | Legion of Merit Meritorious Service Medal (four awards) Contents
|
Alma mater | United States Coast Guard Academy (1971) |
Other work | President/CEO of the Port of San Diego National Commodore, Sea Scouts |
Charles D. Wurster is a retired vice admiral in the United States Coast Guard who last served as the Commander, Pacific Area and Commander, Defense Force West. He is now retired from the Coast Guard, is the President/CEO of the Port of San Diego (Jan 2009), and serves as national commodore of the Sea Scouting division of the BSA.
Wurster is a 1971 honors graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He received a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois in 1976 and is a 1993 graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He is a registered Professional Engineer and is a Fellow of the Society of American Military Engineers.
As a junior officer, he served as a Deck Watch Officer aboard Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast, St. Petersburg, Florida, and as Commanding Officer of LORAN-A Station at Cape Sarichef, Alaska. Wurster has also been assigned to Civil Engineering duties at the Thirteenth Coast Guard District, Seattle, Washington; the Eighth Coast Guard District, New Orleans, Louisiana; Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, D.C.; and as Facilities Engineer at Training Center Petaluma, California.
Wurster assumed his duties as Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area in May 2006. The Area of Operations for this command encompasses over 73,000,000 square miles (190,000,000 km2) throughout the Pacific Basin to the Far East. Wurster was responsible for overseeing the operation of units performing missions in maritime safety, maritime mobility, protection of natural resources, maritime security, homeland security, and national defense.
Prior to this assignment, he served as Commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also served as Assistant Commandant for Acquisition at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Acquisition projects under Wurster's oversight included Rescue 21, a complete renewal of the National Distress and Response System; replacement of 180 aircraft, cutters, patrol boats, and motor lifeboats; plus acquisition of hundreds of fast response boats.
Wurster's other recent assignments include Chief of Staff to Commander Coast Guard Pacific Area, Alameda, California; Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Integrated Support Command Kodiak, Alaska; Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Facilities Design and Construction Center Pacific, Seattle, Washington; and Chief of the Civil Engineering Division, Maintenance and Logistics Command Pacific, Alameda, California.
His awards include Legion of Merit (four awards) and the Society of American Military Engineers Sverdrup Medal. He is also the recipient of nine unit and meritorious unit commendations.
His brother Donald C. Wurster is a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force. The Wurster family has a record of military service dating back to the Revolutionary War. As three-star flag officers, the brothers also hold the highest rank of anyone in their family. Their father, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Charles A. Wurster, was a P-51 Mustang and F-80 (P-80) pilot in the Korean War.
Wurster retired on May 29, 2008, and passed command to Vice Admiral David Pekoske. [2]
Wurster was a member of the Boy Scouts of America as a youth and earned Eagle Scout in 1967. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and the Silver Buffalo Award and has been involved in Sea Scouting. [3] From October 2008 to May 2019 he served as National Sea Scout Commodore.
Thomas Hansen Collins is a former admiral of the United States Coast Guard who served as the 22nd commandant from May 2002 to May 2006.
John Briggs Hayes was an admiral of the United States Coast Guard who served as the 16th commandant from 1978 to 1982.
Merlin O'Neill served as the tenth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from 1 January 1950 to 1 June 1954.
William Edward Reynolds served as the fifth Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, from 1919 to 1924.
Commodore was an early title and later a rank in the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard and the Confederate States Navy. For over two centuries, the designation has been given varying levels of authority and formality.
Terry M. Cross is a retired United States Coast Guard Vice Admiral who served as Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard from July 2004 until June 2006. He served as the Coast Guard's second in command and was the Agency Acquisition Executive.
Coast Guard Base Alameda also referred to as Coast Guard Island is an artificial island in the Oakland Estuary between Oakland and Alameda, California. It is home to several major United States Coast Guard commands and cutters, including the Coast Guard Pacific Area. It is one of the largest Coast Guard bases on the West Coast. From 1942 until 1982, the island was the site of the Coast Guard's recruiting training center, enlisting and training hundreds of thousands of Coast Guardsmen including many of the 214,239 who served in the Pacific and European Theaters of World War II.
This article covers the organization of the United States Coast Guard.
Admiral Robert Joseph Papp Jr. is a retired admiral of the United States Coast Guard who served as the 24th commandant from 2010 to 2014. He led the largest component of the United States Department of Homeland Security, with 42,000 active duty, 8,200 Reserve, 8,000 civilian, and 31,000 Auxiliary personnel.
Timothy Shawn Sullivan is a retired rear admiral in the United States Coast Guard who served as the Deputy Commander, Pacific Area Coast Guard Defense Forces West. He was assigned as Commander of the Pacific Maintenance and Logistics Command, but was detached from those duties while serving as Deputy PACAREA. He has also served as the First Coast Guard District Commander and Commander, Maritime Defense Command One as well as the Senior Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security serving as the primary coordinator between the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security as well as operational advisor to the Secretary during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
William Dale Baumgartner was a United States Coast Guard rear admiral who served as the Commander, Seventh Coast Guard District. He was also the Judge Advocate General and Chief Counsel of the United States Coast Guard. In this capacity, he was the Coast Guard's senior legal advisor and is responsible for all aspects of the service's legal program.
Ronald James Rábago is a retired United States Coast Guard rear admiral who in 2006 became the first person of Hispanic American descent to be promoted to flag rank in the United States Coast Guard. He retired as the assistant commandant for engineering and logistics and the United States Coast Guard's chief engineer in 2014.
Erroll Mingo Brown is a retired rear admiral in the United States Coast Guard. Brown was the first African-American promoted to flag rank in the Coast Guard.
James Angus Watson IV is a retired United States Coast Guard Rear Admiral. He currently serves as a senior vice president at the American Bureau of Shipping.
Hispanics in the United States Coast Guard can trace their tradition of service to the early 19th century, when they initially performed duties at light house stations as keepers and assistant keepers in its predecessor services. Hispanic is an ethnic term employed to categorize any citizen or resident of the United States, of any racial background, of any country, and of any religion, who has at least one ancestor from the people of Spain or is of non-Hispanic origin, but has an ancestor from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central or South America, or some other Hispanic origin. The three largest Hispanic groups in the United States are the Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans.
Manson K. Brown is an American retired U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral (VADM) and public official. His top military decoration is the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal. In 1994, he became the first recipient of the Coast Guard Captain John G. Witherspoon Award for Inspirational Leadership. In 2012, he was honored with the Golden Torch Award by the National Society for Black Engineers. In 2014, he was honored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People with the Meritorious Service Award, an honor annually bestowed to a service member in a policy-making position for the highest achievement in military equal opportunity. Off duty, he is an active road cyclist.
Captain Charley L. Diaz is a 30-year United States Coast Guard veteran who served on Active Duty from 1982 to 2012. Diaz is best known for leading the crew of the USCGC Sherman (WHEC-720) in the seizure of the Panamanian freighter GATUN off the coast of Panama in March 2007, which netted nearly 20 tons of cocaine worth an estimated $600 million. It was the largest maritime drug bust in US history.
In the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, captain is the senior-most commissioned officer rank below that of flag officer. The equivalent rank is colonel in the United States Army, Air Force, Space Force and Marine Corps.
Coast Guard Pacific Area & Defense Forces West (PACAREA) is an Area Command of the United States Coast Guard, a regional command element and force provider tasked with maritime safety, security, and stewardship throughout the Pacific. The command's area of responsibility encompasses six of the seven continents, 71 countries, and more than 74 million square miles of ocean—from the U.S. Western States to the waters off the east coast of Africa, and from the Arctic to Antarctica. Pacific Area has primary responsibilities for all Coast Guard operations throughout this area of responsibility.
Charles W. Ray is a retired United States Coast Guard admiral who served as the vice commandant of the Coast Guard from May 24, 2018 to June 18, 2021. He previously served as the Coast Guard's deputy commandant for operations.