KODIAK, Alaska — Lt. Cmdr. Paul Salerno will relieve Cmdr. Peter Van Ness as commanding officer of Coast Guard Communications Station Kodiak during a formal ceremony at the unit Friday at 1 p.m.
Van Ness has commanded Communication Station Kodiak since June 2009. Van Ness’ next assignment will be at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Salerno is arriving from the Electronic System Support Unit Boston. While at ESU Boston he was the operations officer and was promoted to the position of executive officer.
His prior assignments include a variety of both operational and staff assignments. He attended Coast Guard basic training in July 1984, and was first assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Cape Small in Hilo, Hawaii. In 1986 he graduated from radioman “A” school and was assigned to Group South Portland, Maine, followed by tours aboard the Coast Guard Cutters Clover and Acushnet. He served as an instructor at Training Center Petaluma, Calif., Atlantic Area Telecommunications Division in Portsmouth, Va.
In 2001 Salerno was promoted to chief warrant officer and assigned to the Information Technology Division at Maintenance and Logistics Command Pacific in Alameda, Calif. In 2004 he was accepted to the Advance Computer Engineering and Technology Education Program attending Keene State College in New Hampshire, and while in the ACET program he was promoted to lieutenant.
Salerno’s personal awards include three Coast Guard Achievement Medals, two Commandant’s Letter of Commendations, five Coast Guard Good Conduct Medals and seven Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendation Ribbons.
