BOSTON – Capt. Kailie Benson transferred command of Coast Guard Sector Boston to Capt. Jamie Frederick, Friday, during a change-of-command ceremony at Coast Guard Base Boston.
Benson assumed command of Sector Boston in 2021 and served as the Sector Commander and Captain of the Port of Boston. She directed all Coast Guard missions from Plymouth, Mass. to the New Hampshire state border, and all waters extending 200 nautical miles offshore. She commanded over 1,500 active duty, reserve, civilian and auxiliary personnel, and employed seven cutters and 22 boats across four multi-mission stations and an aids to navigation team to protect and secure vital infrastructure, rescue mariners in peril at sea, enforce federal law, maintain our navigable waterways, and respond to all hazards impacting the maritime transportation system and coastal region.
“I am very proud of the work done each day by the entire Coast Guard Sector Boston team in service to the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to our country,” said Benson. “They do the hard work of preventing crises as well as responding when crises happen. From search and rescue to protecting the maritime transportation system that supports $8.2 billion in vital commerce that calls in the port of Boston, they answer the call every day. I am also consistently impressed by the commitment and professionalism of our port partners, including federal, state, and local agencies. Together we are stronger.”
Following the military change-of-command ceremony, Benson was formally retired from the Coast Guard after 31 years of service to the country.
Capt. Jamie Frederick became the eighth commander of Coast Guard Sector Boston. He arrives at Sector Boston after serving as the enforcement branch chief at the First Coast Guard District, where he provided oversight of maritime law enforcement, security operations, and cutter management across the northeastern U.S. Additionally, he served as a search and rescue mission coordinator, including the oversight for search efforts of the submersible that went missing near the Titanic site in June 2023.
The change-of-command ceremony is a time-honored military tradition that marks the transfer of total responsibility and authority from one individual to another. It is conducted to demonstrate a continuation of trust and authority within the chain of command.
Friday’s event took place along the waterfront of the great city of Boston, a city which holds a significant place in Coast Guard history. Boston Light at the entrance to Boston Harbor was built in 1716 and was the country’s first light station and last manned (or “wo-manned” thanks to Keeper Sally Snowman) lighthouse. The first operational Revenue Cutter - aptly named Massachusetts - was built up the road in Newburyport, and commanded by Boston’s own Capt. John Foster Williams, hero of the Revolutionary War, and the namesake of the building which houses First District’s headquarters. Ten miles to our southeast sits the historic Hull Lifesaving Station, home to the legendary surfman and lifesaver Joshua James and his crew. During WWII, Coast Guardsmen patrolled the harbor’s shores on foot, and the Coast Guard Cutter Pequot laid underwater indicator loops offshore to warn of enemy ship intrusions.
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