KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Not long after 10 Friday morning there will be a new commander at Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak. That’s when Captain Melissa Rivera will relieve the retiring Captain Bill Deal in a change of command ceremony in Hangar 3.
This is Rivera’s third tour in Alaska and her second in Kodiak. A 21-year veteran of the Coast Guard, she previously flew HH-60 Jayhawks in both Kodiak and Sitka. Her most recent assignment was as executive officer at an air station in Puerto Rico where she also flew MH-65 Dolphin helicopters.
This is the third command change at the Kodiak Coast Guard base in the last month, following the retirement of the base commander and the transfer of the commander at the Communications Station.
Deal, who has been in the Coast Guard for 28-years, will retire and remain in Kodiak with his family.
