THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606140545
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 108 lines
Vice Adm. Kent H. Williams, who today becomes the Coast Guard's top East Coast boss, will lead the service's largest center of operations out of Hampton Roads.
Williams, 52, moves here from Washington to become the first Coast Guard three-star admiral assigned to Hampton Roads in modern memory.
His arrival follows a sweeping reorganization of the 40,000-member service that he helped orchestrate - changes that will see 4,000 people cut from the Coast Guard's ranks and save $400 million a year. It is said to be the largest revamping undertaken by the service since World War II.
He takes charge of a merged new command that numbers 2,500 in Norfolk and Portsmouth alone.
The Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command and Maritime Defense Zone Atlantic, previously headquartered at Governor's Island, N.Y., and the 5th Coast Guard District in Portsmouth, have been consolidated under his leadership.
``It truly is a success story, and a practical demonstration of better government at less cost,'' the admiral said from his new headquarters at the Portsmouth Federal Building.
In all, Williams oversees 27 commands, including 11 ships in Hampton Roads, with an estimated annual payroll of $69 million. His combined staff will number about 250 people. The previous 5th District staff had about 200 personnel assigned.
A similar merger is taking place on the West Coast, between the Pacific Area Command and the 11th District in San Francisco. The Coast Guard's St. Louis office also is merging with offices in New Orleans to achieve similar savings.
Williams formally takes over today in a ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Nauticus National Maritime Center on Norfolk's Elizabeth River waterfront. There, Vice Adm. James M. Loy, who commanded the Governor's Island units, and Rear Adm. William J. Ecker, commander of the 5th District, yield their commands to Williams.
Loy moves to Washington to take over Williams' old job as chief of staff and commanding officer of Coast Guard Headquarters. Ecker retires following a 36-year career.
Adm. Robert E. Kramek, Coast Guard Commandant, and Adm. William J. Flanagan Jr., the Navy's Atlantic Fleet Commander, are keynote speakers at the event.
The cutters Legare and Gentian will be tied up at Nauticus for the ceremony, and will be open for tours.
Last week, The Coast Guard formally opened its Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic in Norfolk. That 480-member unit, housed at the Main Street Tower in downtown Norfolk, also moved from Governor's Island and is commanded by Rear Adm. Doug Teeson.
While Norfolk has been known as the Navy's world capital, and the region's Air Force and Army presence are significant, too, the Coast Guard has been a relatively minor contributor to the estimated 180,000 military and federal civilians manning 12 major defense installations in Hampton Roads.
That changes, Williams said.
Since the early 1970s the Coast Guard's three-star commands were based in New York and San Francisco, traditionally big ports that required the Coast Guard's constant attention.
``New York was a major port and still is,'' said Williams. ``But a lot of what the Coast Guard does today, in terms of theater operations with the Atlantic area commander, means we have to align with the Department of Defense - and the Navy in particular.
``Those people are here in Norfolk.''
Part of the reason Hampton Roads was chosen for the new command was its central location on the East Coast, Williams said. That allows Coast Guard ships to steam north to the fisheries areas, or south to drug enforcement regions.
More importantly, he said, ``it was such a highly desirable place for our people.
``Over the last 10 years Hampton Roads has been the most desirable assignment location for men and women in the Coast Guard on the East and Gulf coasts,'' he said. ``So we are coming to a place people like. It has good quality of life, good school systems, good cost of living.''
Because of the diversity of Coast Guard jobs in the region, there is a much greater opportunity for personnel to remain in the area for a longer time.
``It will afford us geographic stability,'' he said. ``This is my 22nd move in 31 years, but men and women today in the Coast Guard aren't able, or willing, to do that. Most are dual-income families.
``So by consolidating a large number of Coast Guard activities in one area increased responsibilities without having to uproot families and themselves.
``That saves members a lot of disadvantages and saves us a lot of money. Moving people today is very expensive. So it is another one of our economies.''
While the Coast Guard is not a member of the Defense Department, except in wartime, this uniformed service of the Department of Transportation increasingly takes on a military role, said Williams.
Coast Guard detachments serve aboard Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, enforcing United Nations sanctions against Iraqi shipments; serve with the Navy in the Caribbean on drug enforcement teams; and maintain a unique network of defense of U.S. ports, harbors and coastal waters out to 200 miles.
Williams, a 1965 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy who earned the Bronze Star driving patrol boats through Vietnam, later commanded the cutter Durable and the 1st Coast Guard District in Boston and led a variety of Washington-based posts in acquisition, management and resources.
When he finished being the architect of this reorganization plan, the commandant asked him what job he wanted next.
``I said this one. Someone once said, a vision without action is only a dream. I wanted to take (the commandant's) vision, my vision and turn it into a reality.
``The bricks and mortar pretty much were all done,'' he said. ``We've made the moves. Having the team carry that out is very much one of my major goals.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Vice Adm. Kent H. Williams
KEYWORDS: U.S. COAST GUARD by CNB