CLEVELAND — The Coast Guard held a change-of-command and retirement ceremony for the commander of Coast Guard Sector Buffalo, N.Y., Tuesday at the Connecticut Street Armory in Buffalo.
Rear Adm. Mike Parks, commander of the Coast Guard 9th District presided over the ceremony to transfer command of Sector Buffalo from Capt. Steven Wischmann to Capt. Brian Roche.
Wischmann assumed command of Sector Buffalo in June of 2011, with an area of responsibility from Vermillion, Ohio, to Massena, N.Y. Wischmann, a Minnesota native, retired after 29 years of Coast Guard service and plans to plan to remain in the Buffalo area for the next few years while spending increasing time on the coast of Maine and in the Ottertail, Minn., area.
Roche comes to Sector Buffalo from Coast Guard Sector Baltimore, where he served as deputy commander. Roche is a native of Levittown, N.Y.
The change-of-command ceremony is a time-honored tradition, held before the officers and crew of a command that formally restates the continuity of the authority of that command. The change-of-command of a military unit is unique in the world today in that it is a transfer of total responsibility, authority and accountability from one individual to another. It marks the end of one segment of the command’s history and the beginning of another new opportunity for even greater accomplishments in the future.
Capt. Brian Roche (right) salutes Capt. Steven Wischmann and relieves him of duty as commander of Coast Guard Sector Buffalo, N.Y., during a change-of-command ceremony at the Connecticut Street Armory June 25, 2013. Rear Adm. Mike Parks (center), commander of the Coast Guard 9th District, presided over the ceremony. U.S. Coast Guard Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher M. Yaw
Photos of the ceremony can be viewed at the Coast Guard News Flickr page.
