New LI Sound Coast Guard commander faces challenges

When Coast Guard Capt. Joe Vojvodich assumed command of 23,600 square miles of Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean off Nassau and Suffolk, the first thing he had to deal with was the impact of a maritime disaster hundreds of miles away.

The new commanding officer of Sector Long Island Sound had to figure out how to manage with more than 10 percent of his 670-member staff gone. They had been dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico to help monitor pollution, cleanup, oversight and public affairs in the nation's worst oil spill.

"There's a lot of challenges," Vojvodich said of his new assignment, based in New Haven, Conn. And staffing is the biggest.

"We have a lot of responsibilities that we have to maintain," he said. "I want to make sure that our crews and stations are ready and that we're equipping ourselves in the right manner."

So Vojvodich, who came from Washington, D.C., where he oversaw the acquisition of radar and communications systems, wants to follow through on adding motor lifeboats to South Shore "heavy weather" stations that lack them.

Vojvodich (pronounced Vavaditch), 47, said search and rescue remains the top priority - the sector responds to 350 to 400 emergency calls annually - so no rescue boat crew members have been sent to the Gulf.

Growing up inland in Ohio, Vojvodich wasn't a boater. But when it came time to apply to colleges, he saw a Coast Guard Academy bulletin and "I thought the Coast Guard would be a wonderful organization to work for."

Vojvodich spent eight of his 25 years in the service on vessels based in the Caribbean, Alaska and California handling search and rescue, fisheries and narcotics patrols.

He said having been at sea with diverse crews "where you put dozens and dozens of people in a small, confined space and get them to work in a common direction" provided experience that should make him a better commanding officer.

Vojvodich succeeded Capt. Daniel Ronan, who retired after 26 years. Ronan sparked controversy last December when he removed the Montauk station commander, Chief Petty Officer James Weber. Ronan had granted Weber permission to take rescue boats into surf for training last summer but he exceeded the conditions specified.

The incident focused public attention on shortages of manpower and equipment for heavy weather rescues along the South Shore. The agency began taking steps to address both problems afterward. And Vojvodich said those efforts will continue, particularly in obtaining additional 47-foot rescue boats.

Coast Guard policy is to try to have two at each heavy weather station to allow for safe rescues and training. There are now two each at Montauk and Shinnecock, and Fire Island will get a second boat in several weeks and then Jones Beach will get two by fall, he said.

Long Island marine law enforcement officials welcomed Vojvodich.

Dep. Insp. Steven Salz, commander of the Nassau County Police Marine/Aviation Bureau, said, "We look forward to working alongside Captain Vojvodich with his vast experience, knowledge and background in protecting our waterways."

Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound at a glance.

Headquarters in New Haven, Conn. Covers coastal Connecticut, Long Island Sound and the north and south shores of Nassau and Suffolk and offshore 200 miles, a total of 450 miles of coastline and 23,600 square miles of water.

Staffing: 490 military and civilian staff members, 180 uniformed reservists and 1,800 volunteers with the Coast Guard Auxiliary. More than 10 percent are temporarily assigned to Gulf of Mexico for oil spill.

Operational units: 16, including rescue stations at Montauk, Shinnecock, Moriches, Fire Island, Jones Beach and Eatons Neck, as well as navigational aids teams, and cutters based in Connecticut and at Montauk.

Responsibilities: rescues, pollution response, port safety and security, icebreaking, and fisheries and narcotics enforcement operations. Crews aided an annual average of 1,026 people on the water over the past five years and responded to three oil spills of more than 100 gallons and inspected 187 fishing vessels at sea.