Capt. Sean MacKenzie shakes hands with Capt. Gregory Fuller, Chief of Staff Coast Guard Seventeenth District, after receiving an award during a change of command ceremony at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, July 15, 2020. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Melissa E. F. McKenzie.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Capt. Leanne Lusk relieved Capt. Sean MacKenzie as commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector Anchorage in a change of command ceremony at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Wednesday.
Capt. Gregory Fuller, Chief of Staff Coast Guard Seventeenth District, presided over the event.
Lusk was previously assigned as the deputy commander of Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wis. She directed all Coast Guard operations in a four-state area on and around Lake Michigan and the Illinois Waterway. She led nearly 700 Coast Guardsmen on the Sector staff and at 18 boat stations, two Aids to Navigation teams, Marine Safety Unit Chicago, Marine Safety Detachment Sturgeon Bay, and Sector Field Office Grand Haven.
“It has been a true honor and privilege to serve at Sector Anchorage,” said Capt. MacKenzie. “I am very proud of our Coast Guard members, and I am thankful for the great partners we have in Alaska.”
MacKenzie will transfer to his new post at Africa Command in Germany.
Sector Anchorage is the Coast Guard’s largest sector in terms of geographic area, exercising authority in a jurisdiction extending throughout Western Alaska, the North Slope, the Aleutian Islands, and Prince William Sound.
The change of command ceremony is a time-honored tradition that represents the formal transfer of authority and responsibility for a unit from one commanding officer to another. Due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns and restrictions, the ceremony was modified to ensure the health and safety of participants.
