PORT ANGLES — Standing at attention, Chief Warrant Officer Richard K. Loster was described as “unflinching,” “frank” and “innovative” during a Coast Guard change of command ceremony Friday.
Saying he was “moping” because he had to leave as skipper of the Cuttyhunk, Loster recalled having a happy and fulfilling four years as skipper of the high-speed, heavy weather cutter based in Port Angeles.
“It was even better than I had hoped for — and I hoped for quite a lot,” Loster said.
As the ship’s crew watched dockside at the Ediz Hook Coast Guard station, friends and family honored Loster and welcomed the Cuttyhunk’s new commanding officer, Chief Warrant Officer James D. Stoffer.
Loster is being transferred to Eureka, Calif., to become surface operations officer of the Humboldt Bay Coast Guard Group.
Stoffer, a native of Nampa Idaho, comes to the 110-foot Cuttyhunk after serving as first lieutenant aboard the cutter Chase based in San Diego.
————————
The rest of this story appears in the Sunday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.
