New Sector Commander, Prevention Head In Sector Upper Miss

Several U.S. Coast Guard officers with responsibilities in Sector Upper Mississippi received promotions in a recent change of command ceremony. Capt. Andrew Bender relieved Capt. Richard “Mick” Scott as Commander of Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River. District 8 Commander Rear  Adm. Richard Timme presided over the ceremony.

Along with the change of command, Cmdr. Daniel Every “fleeted up” (as promotions are called in the Coast Guard) from his previous position as prevention department head to deputy sector commander. Lt. Cmdr. Stephanie Moore was promoted from her prior position as Waterways Management Division chief to serve as the new prevention department head, replacing Every.

Bender is responsible for Coast Guard operations in the service’s largest contiguous area of responsibility, marked by all or parts of 11 states and more than 2,200 miles of commercially navigable waterways on the Upper Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers and their tributaries. He leads 273 active duty, reserve and civilian personnel and more than 800 Coast Guard Auxiliary members serving the sector office, five inland river buoy tender cutters and three marine safety detachments to promote maritime safety, security and environmental protection, while facilitating the inland river system’s $42 billion annual commercial element.

Bender was previously supervisor of the Towing Vessel National Center of Expertise in Paducah, Ky.

Every serves as alternate captain of the port, officer-in-charge marine inspection, search and rescue mission coordinator, federal maritime security coordinator and federal on-scene coordinator for all sector missions. Every’s prior roles include stints as chief of the investigation divisions of Sector Sault Ste. Marie and Sector Upper Mississippi River, prevention department head in Sector Upper Mississippi, as well as investigation officer in Sector New York. 

A native of Tampa, Fla., Moore is a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a master’s degree in forensic science with an emphasis in arson and explosion investigation. She has been in the Coast Guard since May 2007.

Caption for photo: Capt. Andrew Bender (right) relieves Captain Richard “Mick” Scott (left) as Sector Upper Mississippi River commander. (Photo courtesy of Coast Guard Sector Upper Mississippi River)