Sacramento, Calif. — Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento personnel hosted a change-of-command ceremony, Friday at McClellan Airfield.
Rear Adm. Andrew M. Sugimoto, the Eleventh Coast Guard District commander, presided over the ceremony, where Capt. Bradford E. Apitz relieved Capt. Ian A. Bastek as the Air Station Sacramento commander.
Apitz’s previous assignment was the Chief for the Office of Requirements and Analysis in the Coast Guard Capabilities Directorate (CG-7) at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC.
Prior to the Office of Requirements and Analysis in the Coast Guard Capabilities Directorate (CG-7), Apitz served as Politico-Military Affairs Officer (Western Hemisphere), Strategy, Plans, and Policy Directorate (J5), Joint Chiefs of Staff, from 2019-2021, at the Pentagon, in Washington, DC. He provided strategy direction, policy guidance, and planning focus to develop and execute the National Military Strategy. He was tasked with enabling the chairman to provide best military advice to the president, secretary of defense, and the national security council on topics affecting homeland defense, maritime security, and Arctic policy. From 2017-2019 he served as Air Station Kodiak’s executive officer, following his service as operations officer from 2016-2017.
The Air Station Sacramento commander's responsibilities include leading the West Coast's sole fixed-wing air station and executing the Western Hemisphere mission set over more than 1,200 miles of coastline.
Capt. Ian A. Bastek will be retiring after 27 years of dedicated service to the nation.
Bastek received a Legion of Merit for his service as commander, Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, from July 2021 to June 2024.
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