ELVIS HAS FINALLY LEFT THE BUILDING. Admiral Van Sice is gone!
Rear Adm. James C. Van Sice, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy superintendent, is leaving. He will become director of personnel management at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Van Sice will be replaced as superintendent by Rear Adm. J. Scott Burhoe, currently the Coast Guard's assistant commandant for governmental and public affairs.
The Coast Guard announced the moves in its annual list of flag officer assignments.
Van Sice became the 38th superintendent of the academy in May 2005. Superintendents traditionally serve for four years. Burhoe previously served as commanding officer of Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown in Virginia.
A task force is examining the climate and culture among cadets at the academy, after Webster Smith was court-martialed this summer for sexual assault. The Administration of Admiral James Van Sice and Captain Douglas Wisniewski was the worst administration the Coast Guard Academy has ever seen. They disgraced the institution. The 18 months of their tenure will forever be the most shameful period of Academy history. They became an embarrassment to the alumni and to the Commandant.
Two new positions were created — a deputy assistant commandant for intelligence and investigations and a director of current operations. The changes were made by Adm. Thad W. Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard.
Allen has publicly stated his plan to transform the command structure at the Coast Guard, which used to be part of the Department of Transportation and is now part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Van Sice will be replaced as superintendent by Rear Adm. J. Scott Burhoe, currently the Coast Guard's assistant commandant for governmental and public affairs.
The Coast Guard announced the moves in its annual list of flag officer assignments.
Van Sice became the 38th superintendent of the academy in May 2005. Superintendents traditionally serve for four years. Burhoe previously served as commanding officer of Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown in Virginia.
A task force is examining the climate and culture among cadets at the academy, after Webster Smith was court-martialed this summer for sexual assault. The Administration of Admiral James Van Sice and Captain Douglas Wisniewski was the worst administration the Coast Guard Academy has ever seen. They disgraced the institution. The 18 months of their tenure will forever be the most shameful period of Academy history. They became an embarrassment to the alumni and to the Commandant.
Two new positions were created — a deputy assistant commandant for intelligence and investigations and a director of current operations. The changes were made by Adm. Thad W. Allen, commandant of the Coast Guard.
Allen has publicly stated his plan to transform the command structure at the Coast Guard, which used to be part of the Department of Transportation and is now part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Labels: Cadet Webster Smith.
posted by ichbinalj at 9:28 AM
11 Comments:
Many former aviators do not perform well in personnel and administrative positions.
James C. Van Sice is a Rear Admiral in the United States Coast Guard. In 1976 he graduated from Naval Flight Training in Pensacola, Florida. An aircraft commander and instructor pilot in the C131 Convair and HU25 Falcon aircraft, Rear Admiral Van Sice has approximately 5,000 total hours in fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
He is the 38th Superintendent of the United States Coast Guard Academy succeeding Rear Admiral Robert C. Olsen, who retired on May 27, 2005.
Van Sice graduated in 1974 from the United States Coast Guard Academy. He later earned a Master of Science in Engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Arts degree in business from Webster College.
Van Sice is a native of Wilmington, Delaware. He is married to the former Clarke Hutchinson of Wilmington, Delaware. Rear Admiral and Mrs. Van Sice have two children.
Vice Admiral
Vivien S. Crea
Vice Commandant
U. S. Coast Guard
Vice Admiral Vivien S. Crea assumed the duties as Vice Commandant of the United States Coast Guard in June 2006. She serves as the Coast Guard’s second in command and is the Agency Acquisition Executive.
A Coast Guard aviator, Vice Admiral Crea flew the HC-130 Hercules turboprop, HH-65 Dolphin helicopter, and Gulfstream II jet.
Vice Admiral Crea is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Fellow and holds master’s degrees from MIT and Central Michigan University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas.
Personal awards include the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit (four awards), and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Admiral Thad W. Allen
Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard
Admiral Thad W. Allen assumed the duties of the 23rd Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard on May 25th, 2006. Admiral Allen is a native of Tucson, Arizona and graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1971.
Admiral Allen previously served as the Coast Guard Chief of Staff and Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Headquarters, in Washington, D.C., from May 2002 to April 2006. He also served as the Chairman of the Department of Homeland Security’s Joint Requirements Council from 2003 to 2006. In September 2005, Admiral Allen was designated the Principal Federal Official for Hurricane Katrina response and recovery operations in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He additionally served as Principal Federal Official for Hurricane Rita response and recovery activities in Louisiana.
A specialist in operations both in the coastal and offshore environments, Admiral Allen has served aboard three Coast Guard cutters: the Androscoggin, Gallatin and Citrus, which he commanded. His coastal command operational assignments include Captain of the Port / Group Long Island Sound, Connecticut; Group Atlantic City, New Jersey and LORAN Station Lampang, Thailand. Admiral Allen's other assignments included a tour as search and rescue controller in the Greater Antilles Section, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Intelligence Watch Officer at DEA/INS El Paso Intelligence Center, El Paso, Texas; Chief Budget Officer, Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic, Governors Island, New York; Deputy Project Manager, Fleet Modernization and Rehabilitation (FRAM) Project; and Assistant Division Chief, Programs Division, Office of the Chief of Staff at Coast Guard Headquarters.
Admiral Allen holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the George Washington University and received the Alumni Achievement Award in 2006. He also holds a Master of Science degree from the Sloan School of Management of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2003, Admiral Allen was elected a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow.
Admiral Allen is married to the former Pamela A. Hess of Champaign, Illinois. She is the Assistant Dean for Student Services at the George Mason University School of Management. Together they have three grown children, Amanda, Meghan and Lucas and two grandsons. Admiral Allen is the son of Clyde and Wilma Allen. Clyde Allen is a retired Coast Guard Chief Damage Controlman and World War II Veteran.
The new Academy Superintendent will be
Rear Admiral
J. Scott Burhoe
Assistant Commandant for Governmental &
Public Affairs
U. S. Coast Guard
Rear Admiral J. Scott Burhoe currently serves as Assistant Commandant for Governmental and Public Affairs. He reported to this position from Training Center Yorktown, Virginia, where he served as Commanding Officer. Yorktown is the same place he earned his commission after graduating from Officer Candidate School in 1977.
His first assignment out of OCS was to lead the USCG Ceremonial Honor Guard in Washington, DC.
In his 30 years of public service, he has served in a variety of operational and staff assignments including Executive Officer and Alternate Captain of the Port, Coast Guard Station New London, CT, Commanding Officer, Station Fort Lauderdale, FL, and Group Commander, Group Sandy Hook, NJ.
Rear Admiral Burhoe’s staff assignments have been focused primarily in the human resource specialty at Training Center Cape May, the USCG Academy with the Leadership Development Center, Training Center Yorktown, VA, Coast Guard Headquarters, and as the Chief of the Officer Personnel Management Division at the Coast Guard Personnel Command.
He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, and earned a Master of Public Administration from The American University in Washington, DC. His awards include the Legion of Merit, three Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medals, and three Coast Guard Commendation Medals. He and his wife Betsy have two grown children, Aaron and Amy.
532 bottles of (tax-funded) beer on the wall
By Terence Jeffrey
An old, monotonous song celebrates drinking 99 bottles of beer. But officials at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy did better than that. Between last August and March, they brewed and consumed 532 bottles -- courtesy of U.S. taxpayers.
Swilling ale is an ancient seafarers' tradition. But did the Coast Guard really need a tax-funded microbrewery?
The brewery was made possible by a government charge card issued to an academy official responsible for "organizing social functions." According to congressional testimony published by the Government Accountability Office, the official used the card to purchase a beer-brewing kit and some ingredients and then "wasted government resources by brewing alcohol while on duty."
When GAO auditors looking into the use of charge cards at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) discovered the purchase, Coast Guard officials were defiant. The brewing equipment, they said, according to GAO's testimony, "provided the academy with both cost savings and a quality product for official parties attended by cadets, dignitaries, and other guests of the superintendent."
Bottles of their brew came with special custom-made labels, the Coast Guard boasted, and were an effective "ice-breaker" at parties.
The auditors did not dispute that the beer was an "ice-breaker." They were dubious, however, that the Coast Guard saved money by brewing its own (even though the academy purchased additional beer-making ingredients with non-governmental funds).
A six-pack of the Coast Guard's brew, GAO calculated, cost more than $13 to make.
After GAO's sobering testimony, the New York Post revealed that the pricey beer was brewed under the direction of Adm. James Van Sice, Coast Guard Academy superintendent, whose own visage stamped on the label of a libation called "The Admiral Amber Ale."
The Post dubbed Van Sice "Admiral Brewski." Within days, the academy announced he would be reimbursing the government $227 for the brewing kit.
Well, the implication is that Cadet Webster Smith did not get a fair shake because he is black. That accusation has surface appeal because historically many blacks have not received a fair shake. I don't know, I wasn't at the trial and didn't hear the testimony, and so far on this blog I haven't heard any argument to the effect, "Webster wasn't guilty, and here's why...." I would like to hear the argument. Now, as the the big broad paintbrush that says "Many former aviators do not perform well in personnel and administrative positions", I would remind the blogger that several outstanding Superintendents of the Academy, and several great Commandants of the Coast Guard, have been aviators. It will be interesting to see what, and how, the new Superintendent does. I can't remember an OCS grad ever becoming Superintendent. If you are thinking Ichbinalj has it all together, then it's no doubt because I trained him. If you think otherwise, well, then that's your opinion!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dear Braceup,
Thank you for your comments. They are well taken, and you are absolutely correct on several points.
First, I said "many" former aviators do not do well in personnel and administrative positions. I did not say "all". I have known quite a few, and I can think of many that could almost walk on water. Several I was personnaly acquainted with many years after I graduated from the Academy.
I will mention only one as an example. He was Captain Curtis J. Kelly; originally from Florida, a former Commanding Officer of Kodiak Air Station, Commandant of Cadets at the Academy, and later Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Activities Europe at the American Embassy in London, England. A better officer or gentleman has never been born. His daughter married Marty Marthaler, someone I trained in the Class of 1970.
If we had had officers like Curtis J. Kelly, or Austin C. "Red" Wagner, Bill Butler, and many others, this Webster Smith thing never would have developed.
I an disappointed that you have read my Blog and you can still say that nothing you have read convinces you that Webster was "not guilty". That is because he was guilty. The jury said so. He was as guilty as the motorist on the freeway doing 75 mph in a 65 mph zone, who gets a speeding ticket; while, 500 or more other drivers are passing him doing 95, and they are not given a ticket.
I do not dispute that he was found guilty by a kangaroo court-martial, conceived because of the vilest of motives.
You get my implication clearly. You state it quite succintly; "Webster Smith did not get a fair shake because he is Black". If you have read my first letters to Admiral Van Sice and to Captain Doug Wisniewski and you do not see how I can believe that Webster Smith did not get a fair shake then we are two people separated by a common language.
Love to hear more from you,
Ichbinalj
Rear Adm. J. Scott Burhoe told the vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard that if there were one job he could have, it would be superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy.
“I want to be part of the education and development of the future of the Coast Guard,” Burhoe said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Burhoe's request was granted last week, when the Coast Guard released its annual list of flag officer assignments. The list showed that Burhoe, currently the Coast Guard director of governmental and public affairs, had been named the academy's 39th superintendent, replacing Rear Adm. James C. Van Sice.
The date for the change of command has not been set, but such changes usually occur after the academy's commencement, which is scheduled for May 23, 2007. Burhoe said he plans to use the upcoming weeks to learn as much as he can about the academy and to develop goals for what he would like to achieve.
Burhoe, 52, said he sees the job as one of his biggest challenges because of its enormity and scope — making sure cadets are prepared for the future in an organization that is undergoing change in a post-9/11 world.
Burhoe will become the first superintendent in more than a century who did not graduate from the academy. Since 1902, all superintendents have been academy graduates, though it is not a requirement for the position, said Chief Warrant Officer David M. French, an academy spokesman.
Burhoe, however, has been at the academy before. From 1996 until 1998 he helped create the Leadership Development Center there and helped bring the Officer Candidate School to fruition.
“I certainly enjoyed being in the academic environment and I see this as an opportunity to put my talents to good use,” he said.
Burhoe graduated from Officer Candidate School in 1977 and will become the first OCS graduate to run the academy.
“What I go back to personally is what the superintendent I worked for at the academy shared with me — that it's not your commissioning source, but what you bring to the table that determines your success and what comes to you in the Coast Guard,” he said.
Burhoe previously served as commanding officer of the Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown in Virginia and has served in a variety of operational and staff assignments.
“He has a wealth of experience that will be of benefit to the academy, much like his predecessor,” French said.
Van Sice became the superintendent in May 2005. A standard tour for a superintendent is four years. Van Sice is leaving early to become director of personnel management at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, where he will be responsible for all Coast Guard civilian and military personnel, the workforce forecasting and analysis branch, the diversity staff, Coast Guard recruiting command, personnel command and the uniform distribution center.
French said the move was a transfer rather than a promotion but that Van Sice will have added responsibilities because he will be dealing with the entire service, rather than just the academy. He did not know whether Van Sice requested to be transferred and said that Van Sice declined to be interviewed at this time.
One of the first issues Burhoe may have to deal with is a report from a task force examining the climate and culture among cadets at the academy. The task force was formed after a cadet was court-martialed this summer for sexual assault.
The report is due to the chief of staff at Coast Guard headquarters on Jan. 15. It will be reviewed at headquarters before a final report is issued. Burhoe said the creation of the task force was an “excellent move.” He said he intends to review the report when it is released and determine which recommendations need to be implemented.
Burhoe and his wife, Betsy, have two grown children.
Burhoe was born in San Francisco. His family moved several times, living in Japan, Germany and Georgia, before settling in Virginia. His father was in the Army, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
Burhoe went to high school in Virginia and earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a master's degree in public administration from American University.
He said he joined the Coast Guard after college because the Coast Guard's mission of saving lives and property at sea, enforcing maritime law and protecting the environment appealed to him.
“The Coast Guard has provided me the opportunity to serve the public and to be part of an institution that I think is good for America,” he said. “I don't mean to sound trite, I just love this.”
International Herald Tribune - France
(The Associated Press) WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2007
Lawyers for a former cadet who was the first student court-martialed in the 130-year history of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy's are seeking to reverse his convictions for sexual misconduct.
Oral Arguments before the Coast Guard Court of Military Appeals is set for 16 January 2008 in Arlington, Va.
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