SITKA, Alaska — Coast Guard Cmdr. Doug Cameron watches as Cmdr. Edward Sandlin salutes Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, commander, 17th Coast Guard District, and assumes command of Air Station Sitka, Wednesday, May 16, 2012.

Cameron, the previous Air Station Sitka commander, is transferring to the 5th Coast Guard District where he will serve as the district's Chief of Incident Management.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow.

SITKA, Alaska — Coast Guard Cmdr. Doug Cameron and Cmdr. Edward Sandlin listen as Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, commander, 17th Coast Guard District addresses the audience during the Air Station Sitka change of command ceremony, Wednesday, May 16, 2012.

Military changes of command are a time honored tradition in which command authorities and responsibilities are passed from one individual to another.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow.

SITKA, Alaska — Coast Guard Cmdr. Doug Cameron and Cmdr. Edward Sandlin conduct a personnel inspection during the Air Station Sitka change of command ceremony, Wednesday, May 16, 2012.

Sandlin assumed command of the Air Station from Cameron during the ceremony.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow.

For more information contact Coast Guard External Affairs at 907-463-2065

COLD BAY, Alaska — Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Kendrick, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter pilot, helps Cold Bay clinic personnel get an Alaska Juris crewman off the helicopter in Cold Bay May 10, 2012.

The Dolphin helicopter crew who are forward deployed on the cutter Munro were able to hoist the three Alaska Juris crewmen who were exposed to ammonia and transport them to Cold Bay.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Lane Steffenhagen.

The Hercules aircrew provided a medevac service for three Alaska Juris crewman who were reportedly exposed to ammonia on the vessel.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally.

COLD BAY, Alaska — Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak aircrews and Cold Bay clinic personnel assist an Alaska Juris crewman aboard a Kodiak-based HC-130 Hercules airplane in Cold Bay after he was exposed to ammonia on the vessel May 10, 2012.

An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew hoisted three men from the fishing vessel and transported them to Cold Bay where the Hercules aircrew took them to Anchorage for further medical care.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Anchorage-based emergency medical technicians transfer an Alaska Juris crewman from a Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane in Anchorage May 10, 2012.

Three Alaska Juris crewmen were medevaced after it was reported the men suffered from ammonia exposure aboard the vessel.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally.

For more information contact Petty Officer 3rd Class Grant DeVuyst at 907-321-1866.

JUNEAU, Alaska — Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr., Coast Guard commandant, shares some remarks with a crowd gathered for Capt. Norman “Buddy” Custard’s retirement ceremony at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center April 2, 2012.

Custard, District 17 chief of staff for the last two years, retired after 31 years of service in the Coast Guard.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen.

JUNEAU, Alaska — Capt. Norman "Buddy" Custard, the District 17 chief of staff, receives a flag during a time honored tradition called passing of the flag for his retirement ceremony at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center April 2, 2012.

As the chief of staff, Custard was second-in-command of Coast Guard District 17.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen.

JUNEAU, Alaska — Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr., Coast Guard commandant, congratulates Capt. Norman "Buddy" Custard, District 17 chief of staff, at Custard's retirement ceremony at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center April 2, 2012.

After completing Officer Candidate School in 1981, Custard began his 31-year career as a deck watch officer on the Coast Guard Cutter Escape in Charleston, S.C.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Charly Hengen.

NOME, Alaska – Coast Guard sponsored Iditarod musher Ken Anderson enters the finish line after completing the more than 1000-mile race in 9 days 18 hours and 56 minutes earning 12th place March 14, 2012. 

This is the third Iditarod race where the Coast Guard has sponsored Anderson in the great dog sled race that is know as “The last great race on Earth.”

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley

NOME, Alaska - Coast Guard sponsored musher Ken Anderson thanks his dog team immediately after finishing the 2012 Iditarod race in 12th place March 14, 2012.

Anderson, a 12 time Iditarod veteran, had a strong and steady pace, but several race decisions slowed his progress and kept him out of the top ten finishers this year.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley

NOME, Alaska - Coast Guard sponsored Iditarod musher Ken Anderson shares a moment with his wife Gwen Holdmann, also an Iditarod veteran, after he completed the 2012 race extends more than 1000-miles through some of Alaska's toughest terrain.

The Coast Guard sponsored Anderson, a now 12-time Iditarod race veteran, during his running of the 40th Iditarod race.

Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley

NOME, Alaska - Coast Guard sponsored Iditarod musher Ken Anderson and his wife Gwen Holdmann (right) pose for a photo with Megan McClanahan, Anderson’s dog handler, at the famous Nome finish line after Anderson completed the historic race in 9 days 18 hours and 56 minutes earning 12th place March 14, 2012.

The Coast Guard sponsored Anderson, an Iditarod race veteran, during his 12th running of the 40th Iditarod race that extends through some of Alaska's toughest terrain ending in Nome.

Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley

For more information contact Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley at 907-321-4510

CORDOVA, Alaska — Crewmembers from the Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore and Alaska Army National Guardsmen clear compacted snow and ice from the roof of the grocery store as snow continues to fall Jan. 12, 2012.

The two services conducted relief under the direction of the incident command at the established emergency operation center.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. j.g. Carla Geyer.

CORDOVA, Alaska — Petty Officer 3rd Class Gregory Tessing, an electrician aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore, shovels snow from the roof of a store during a brief break in the extreme weather Jan. 12, 2012.

The Coast Guard and Alaska Army National Guard are focusing on residences with serious damage and are preventing the damage or collapse of critical infrastructure, such as grocery stores and schools.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. j.g. Carla Geyer.

CORDOVA, Alaska — Cmdr. Michael Sarnowski, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore, speaks to the incident command staff during a planning meeting at the emergency operations center in Cordova Jan. 12, 2012.

The EOC directed Coast Guardsmen and National Guardsmen in their snow removal operations throughout the town.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. j.g. Carla Geyer.

BERING SEA - The Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaks ice around the Russian-flagged tanker vessel Renda 250 miles south of Nome, Alaska, Jan. 6, 2012.

The Healy is the Coast Guard's only current operating polar icebreaker.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis.

BERING SEA - The Coast Guard Cutter Healy escorts the Russian-flagged tanker vessel Renda 250 miles south of Nome, Alaska, Jan. 6, 2012.

The vessels are transiting through ice up to five-feet thick in this area.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis.

BERING SEA - The Russian-flagged tanker Renda steams toward Nome, Alaska, through a path in the Bering Sea ice broken up by the Coast Guard Cutter Healy Jan. 6, 2012.

The Renda is carrying more than 1.3 million gallons of fuel to deliver to the city of Nome.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by cutter Healy.

BERING SEA - The Russian-flagged tanker Renda carrying more than 1.3 million gallons of fuel for the city of Nome steams through a path in the ice of the Bering Sea Jan. 6, 2012.

The 420-foot Seattle-based Coast Guard Cutter Healy is escorting and breaking a pathway in the ice approximately 19 miles northwest of Nunivak Island for the Renda to safely navigate to Nome.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by cutter Healy.

BERING SEA - A Coast Guard Cutter Healy crewmember takes a moment to watch the Russian-flagged tanker Renda steam through the ice in the North Bering Sea while the cutter crew escorts the tanker to Nome Jan. 6, 2012.

The 420-foot Seattle-based Healy is the Coast Guard'€™s newest and most technologically advanced polar icebreaker and is currently the service's only operational polar icebreaker.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by cutter Healy.

BERING SEA - The Coast Guard Cutter Healy crew breaks ice in the Bering Sea as the Russian-flagged tanker Renda, approximately 19 miles northwest of Nunivak Island, makes their way to Nome, Alaska, to deliver more than 1.3 million gallons of fuel to the city Jan. 6, 2012.

The 420-foot Seattle-based Healy and tanker Renda are approximately 19 miles northwest of Nunivak Island.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by cutter Healy.

For more information contact Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley at 907-321-4510

BERING SEA — The Coast Guard Cutter Healy crew escorts the tanker Renda and crew from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to Nome Jan. 5, 2011.

The 420-foot Seattle-based Healy is currently the Coast Guard's only operating polar icebreaker.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally.

BERING SEA — A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules aircrew conducts an overflight of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy as it escorts the tanker Renda from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, to Nome Jan. 5, 2012.

The Healy crew is scheduled to break a path in the ice near Nome so the Renda crew can deliver critical fuel supplies to the city.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally.

For more information contact Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis at 907-321-4501.