Click the photo above for photos from the ceremony. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul F. Zukunft presents Vice Adm. Charles W. Ray a Distinguished Service Medal during the Coast Guard Pacific Area change of command ceremonies Aug. 15, 2016 in Base Alameda, California. Pacific Area is the Coast Guard's regional command element and force provider for maritime safety, security and stewardship in the Pacific. The command's area of responsibility encompasses six continents, 71 countries and more than 74 million square miles of ocean. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Loumania Stewart, 11th District Public Affairs.
Editor's note: B-roll from the ceremony is also available for download by clicking here.
ALAMEDA, Calif. – Vice Adm. Charles Ray, a Newport, Arkansas, native, will assume the position of Deputy Commandant for Operations at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., after serving as commander, Pacific Area in Alameda Calif., Monday.
Vice Adm. Ray has served as the Pacific Area commander since April 2014. He also holds the distinction of being the Coast Guard’s “Ancient Albatross,” the longest serving senior officer aviator on active duty, having logged more than 5,000 flight hours throughout the course of his career.
"It has been the honor and joy of my professional career to have served as the Pacific Area commander for the past two years," said Vice Adm. Ray. "I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to share with so many great Americans. The Coast Guard men and women of Pacific Area have done great things for this region, for our Nation and (for the) world. They have proven time and again that they are the reason we are the world's greatest Coast Guard, and I couldn't be prouder of them."
As Deputy Commandant for Operations, Vice Adm. Ray’s office provides the oversight of the development of operational strategy, policy, guidance, and resources that address the Coast Guard’s national priorities.
Under his leadership in Pacific Area, the Coast Guard men and women of Pacific Area removed more than 319,000 pounds of cocaine in Fiscal Year 2015, which was one of the most successful years for the service. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy also became the first U.S. ship to navigate unaccompanied to the North Pole in 2015, and the Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star rescued 27 fishermen beset in ice near Antarctica in 2014.
Vice Adm. Ray previously served as commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District, director of the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission for the Ministry of Interior, and as the military advisor to the Secretary of the Department Homeland Security. Vice Adm. Ray is a 1981 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy and is a career Coast Guard helicopter pilot. He graduated from Newport High School in 1977. Vice Adm. Ray’s mother, Margaret Ray, still resides in Newport.
Pacific Area is the Coast Guard’s regional command element and force provider for maritime safety, security and stewardship in the pacific. The command’s area of responsibility encompasses six continents, 71 countries and more than 74 million square miles of ocean.
Vice Adm. Ray received the Distinguished Service Medal during the ceremony for exceptionally meritorious service.