Coast Guard reopens command center in Puerto Rico

Photo By Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Pena | U.S. Coast Guardsmen Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Hazzard and Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Shelton, electronics technicians with U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan, repair communications equipment on the roof of the communications center building in San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 11, 2017. The Coast Guardsmen maintained the equipment in preparation for the reopening of the command center in U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Gabrielle Weaver)  

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

10.11.2017

Story by Spc. Gabrielle Pena 

24th Theater Public Affairs Support Element

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Oct. 11, 2017) – U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan has reopened its command center in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct. 11, 2017 following the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
The command center transferred its command to U.S. Coast Guard Operations Systems Center Martinsburg, West Virginia, prior to Hurricane Maria reaching Puerto Rico.
“Today, we are in the process of pulling back all of our communications capabilities,” said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Phipps, the Sector San Juan Command Center Chief. “In the next few hours we will be 100 percent up and running in Sector San Juan.”
The decision to move the command center prior to Hurricane Maria’s landfall in Puerto Rico was to prevent loss of communications in the area.
“In lieu of the Category 5 hurricane that was destined to hit Puerto Rico, we shifted our communication posture to the states,” said Phipps. “If we didn’t do the shift prior to the hurricane, we weren’t going to be able to maintain communications.”
The preventative transfer of communications to OSC Martinsburg left the sector without active command of the center for several weeks.
“Hurricane Maria hit three weeks ago,” said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Eric King, the commander of the command center. “It has taken us about three weeks to be fully operational.”


Now that U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan has reopened its command center, they are able to restore their full capabilities. These capabilities include the ability to communicate with vessels and aircraft to gather information and the ability to share information with the Department of Defense and other Coast Guard assets and agencies such as FEMA.
“FEMA is the lead agency to work with the government of Puerto Rico,” said King. “The Coast Guard’s role is to support FEMA in any way possible to bring food and commodities to help with the recovery and response efforts.”
With U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan in full control of their command center, coast guardsmen are ready to respond to the needs of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

• Date Taken: 10.11.2017
• Date Posted: 10.11.2017 18:56
• Story ID: 251318
• Location: SAN JUAN, PR