SAN FRANCISCO – Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco crewmembers welcomed a new commanding officer during a change of command ceremony held at the air station today.
Cmdr. Erik C. Langenbacher assumed command of Air Station San Francisco from Cmdr. Samuel R. Creech, who had been stationed in San Francisco since June 2008. Creech is assigned to the United States Northern Command, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Langenbacher reports to Air Station San Francisco from his last assignment as deputy group commander of Group/Air Station Port Angeles, Wash. He previously served as the HH-65 Dolphin helicopter product line manager at the Aircraft Repair and Supply Center in Elizabeth City, N.C. There he worked on maintenance strategies for aging aircraft systems. Prior assignments include engineering officer at Air Station Detroit, Alaska Patrol at Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, and deck watch officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Reliance.
Langenbacher’s decorations include two Meritorious Service Medals, the Air Medal, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, the Commandant’s Letter of Commendation and numerous unit and team commendations. He has accumulated more than 3,400 flight hours and holds a helicopter Airline Transport Pilot rating and a commercial pilot’s rating in fixed-wing aircraft.
Langenbacher was raised in Remer, Minn. He graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering and earned a Masters Degree in business administration from Embry Riddle University. He is married to the Kristi Kiteley formally of Port Angeles, and they have two children.
Today, Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco has four MH-65 Dolphin helicopters and 125 personnel assigned to the unit, conducting search and rescue, law enforcement, homeland security, and maritime environmental protection missions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest. Air Station personnel also periodically stand up aviation detachments aboard Coast Guard cutters that deploy worldwide.
