WHAT: Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria, Ore., Change of Command Ceremony

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 24, 2009

WHERE: Coat Guard Group/Air Station Astoria
                2185 SE 12^th Place
                Warrenton, Ore., 97146

ASTORIA, Ore. – Coast Guard Capt. Peter Troedsson will transfer command of Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria to Capt. Douglas E. Kaup in a change of command ceremony scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 24, 2009.

Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore, commander, 13th Coast Guard District, is scheduled to preside over the ceremony.

Media are invited to attend the ceremony and are asked to arrive at Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria by 10 a.m. Friday.   Media interested in attending should contact Lt. j.g. Stephen Drauszewski at (503) 861-6123 or Petty Officer Kelly Parker at (503) 861-6235

Troedsson has served as the commanding officer of Group/Air Station Astoria since July 2006.  Previously he commanded Air Station Savannah, Ga.

Graduating from UCLA in 1984, Troedsson received his commission from Officer Candidate School that same year.  He subsequently served on the planning staff of the Office of Merchant Marine Safety at Coast Guard Headquarters till 1986.  He attended Naval Flight Training in Pensacola, Fla., earning his “wings” in 1987, and was assigned to Air Station Los Angeles where he flew the HH-52 Sea Guard and the HH-65 Dolphin. 

In 1991 he was assigned to duty as the Coast Guard exchange pilot with the 771 Royal Naval Air Squadron in Cornwall, England, flying the Westland MkV Sea King.  He served as the squadron’s flight safety officer and public relations officer. 

In 1993, Troedsson was assigned to Group/Air Station Port Angeles, Wash.  He was designated an instructor pilot for the HH-65, and served as Administration Department Head, and subsequently as Air Operations and Standardization Officer.  From 1998 to 2001, Troedsson served as a management analyst on the staff of the Coast Guard’s Resource Director, and was responsible for developing and communicating the Coast Guard’s capital investment plan.  From 2001 to 2003, he served as executive officer at Air Station San Francisco, and from 2003 to 2005 as commanding officer of Air Station Savannah, Ga. 

Troedsson has accumulated over 5000 hours as a pilot in Coast Guard, Navy and Royal Navy aircraft.

A native of Los Angeles, Troedsson holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Scandinavian Languages from UCLA, and a master's in Public Administration from George Washington University (GWU).  At GWU he served as an editor for the journal Policy Perspectives, and as coach for the MBA sailing team.  He was the 1998 MPA Honor Graduate from the GWU School of Business and Public Management.  In 2006 he earned a master's  in National Security Studies (with highest honors) from the U.S. Air Force Air War College in Montgomery, Ala.

Troedsson’s decorations include three Meritorious Service Medals, the 9/11 Service Medal, four Coast Guard Achievement Medals, three Commandant’s Letters of Commendation, and others. 

Troedsson is married to the former Carolyn Billey of Sherman Oaks, Calif., and is the proud father of Erik and Katie.

Kaup is a native of Holyoke, Colo., where he grew up working his parents’ wheat and dairy farm.  He graduated from Colorado State University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science Degree majoring in Industrial Construction Management.  After commissioned service in the Army for five years as an Army aviator, he was selected as a Coast Guard Direct Commission Aviator in 1986.

Kaup served his first tour as an operational Coast Guard aviator flying the HH-52A at Group/Air Station Humboldt Bay, Calif.   He was designated an aeronautical engineer and served as the HH-65A Assistant Engineering Officer at Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., followed by a tour as the Alaska Patrol Division aeronautical engineering officer at Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, Alaska.   Kaup then returned to Group/Air Station Humboldt Bay serving as the aeronautical engineering officer and unit instructor pilot. 

In 1998 Kaup earned a Master of Science Degree in Industrial Administration from the Krannert School of Business at Purdue University.  Following graduate studies, he served as the avionics support branch chief at Coast Guard Aircraft Repair and Supply Center, Elizabeth City, N.C.  In that capacity, he provided aviation engineering support for 25 air stations and 200 aircraft while supervising the technical data programs for all avionics systems valued at $590 million. 

Kaup returned to the West Coast and served as the aeronautical engineering officer of Group/Air Station North Bend, Ore.  He then completed a tour as the executive officer of Coast Guard Air Station Houston.  He served as the commanding officer of Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco from July 2004 to July 2006, and then as the Incident Management Branch Chief for the Eleventh Coast Guard District in Alameda, Calif., for the next two years.  Since July 2008, he has served as the District Eleven Plans and Force Readiness Division Chief. 

Kaup holds pilot designations in the TH-55A, UH-1H, UH-60A, HH-52A, HH-60J, HH-65B and HH-65C helicopters.  His military decorations include two Meritorious Service Medals, two Air Medals, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, as well as various unit and service decorations.   He was recognized with the U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue Award in 2001 for his heroic rescue of a stranded fisherman off the Oregon coast.

Kaup is married to the former Debra Uptegrove of Holyoke.  They have three children, Levi (19), Johanna (16) and Jacob (13).

The change of command ceremony is a time-honored event preserved by the rich heritage of naval tradition.  It is a custom that is formal and, following military protocol, designed to strengthen the respect for the continuity of command that is vital to any military organization . The culmination of the ceremony is reached when both officers read their orders, face one another, salute, and transfer responsibility of command. This provides the entire command with the knowledge and the opportunity to witness that the officer directed by proper authority is taking command.