Lt. Travis Starsinic relieves Lt. Cmdr. Shea Winterberger for the command of the Coast Guard Cutter George Cobb at Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach in San Pedro, California, July 10, 2020. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Mark Barney)
SAN PEDRO, Calif. — Coast Guard Cutter George Cobb personnel held a change-of-command ceremony Friday in San Pedro, where Lt. Travis Starsinic assumed command from Lt. Cmdr. Shea Winterberger.
The Coast Guard 11th District chief of staff, Capt. Joseph R. Buzzella, presided over the ceremony remotely from Alameda.
Winterberger served as the commanding officer for the George Cobb since 2018. Under her command, the crew of the George Cobb serviced 224 navigation buoys, repaired six weather buoys and recovered the Isthmus Cove light structure that collapsed in a reef.
“The George Cobb could not have been as successful without a network of support,” said Winterberger. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team and extended family.”
Starsinic, a Hummelstown, Pennsylvania native, graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine and Environmental Science. Before reporting as the commanding officer for the George Cobb, Starsinic served as the executive officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Maple in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.
The crew of the George Cobb is responsible for 185 aids to navigation along the California coast, including the major ports of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego. As the 14th and final “Keeper” Class coastal buoy tender, the George Cobb carries on the tradition of the men and women of the United States Lighthouse Service, a predecessor service of the Coast Guard.
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