PORT ANGELES — Capt. Scott Pollock will transfer command of the Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles to Cmdr. Richard Hahn in a formal ceremony on Ediz Hook on Friday.
Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore, commander of the 13th Coast Guard District, will preside over the change of command ceremony at the Port Angeles hangar at 10:30 a.m.
The formal ceremony follows military protocol designed to strengthen respect for continuity of command, Coast Guard officials said.
The ceremony culminates when both officers read their orders, face one another, salute and transfer responsibility of command.
The change comes one week before Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles will become Sector Field Office/Air Station Port Angeles as part of a merger with the Seattle office.
That change takes effect on July 30, said Lt. Jane Carley, Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles spokeswoman.
Carley said the change of command is not part of the station’s redesignation.
“The captain’s tour is complete here,” Carley explained.
Pollock will transfer to Sector Puget Sound in Seattle to become the deputy commander there. He has been the commanding officer of the Port Angeles Coast Guard base since June 2007.
Pollock is one rank higher than Hahn.
But the commander’s ranking, and the new title of the base, will not impact the Port Angeles station or its response capabilities, Carley said.
Hahn will become the 38th commanding officer of the Port Angeles Coast Guard station.
His last assignment was executive officer of Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Puerto Rico, where he served from 2008 to this year.
Born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colo., Hahn graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1990 and became a deck watch officer on the Coast Guard cutter Confidence in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
In 1993, Hahn completed his naval flight training and reported to Air Station Traverse City, Mich., to fly the HH-60J Jayhawk helicopter.
Hahn became an aeronautical engineer in 1997 and transferred to Air Station Kodiak, Alaska.
He served as the HH-65A engineering officer, instructor pilot and senior aviator on five deployments in the Bering Sea and one for Joint Interagency Task Force West.
In 2000, Hahn became Air Station Houston’s aeronautical engineering officer. He earned an aeronautical engineering graduate degree in 2004 and was assigned to the Coast Guard Headquarters Office of Aeronautical Engineering as resource division chief.
In 2005, Hahn became program manager for aeronautical engineering.
During his military career he garnered the Meritorious Service Medal, Commendation Medal, two Coast Guard Achievement Medals and the Commandant’s Letter of Commendation.
Hahn and his wife, Marta, have two daughters, Sara and Megan.
Pollock arrived in Port Angeles in 2007 by way of Coast Guard District 17 in Juneau, Alaska.
He finished his tour there as incident management branch chief, responsible for search and rescue and marine environmental protection efforts.
Pollock’s military awards include six Coast Guard Commendation Medals and one Coast Guard Achievement Medal.
Pollock was born and raised in Tacoma and graduated from the University of Washington.
He and his wife, Tobi, have two daughters, Sara and Anna.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
