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Anchorage Coast Guard commander removed
ANCHORAGE SECTOR: Hamilton faces allegations of misconduct.

By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com

Published: May 11th, 2009 07:19 PM
Last Modified: May 11th, 2009 09:58 PM

Facing allegations of misconduct, the commander of the Coast Guard's sector in Anchorage was abruptly relieved from duty Monday in a personal visit with the top officer in Alaska, according to Coast Guard officials.


Capt. Mark Hamilton was temporarily relieved for "alleged misconduct and loss of confidence in the officer's ability to command," the Coast Guard said in a press release. Coast Guard officials would not immediately elaborate, saying that the matter was the subject of an internal investigation. Asked if it could involve criminal charges, Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Eric Eggen said it was too soon to tell.

Hamilton, who was named to his post as Anchorage sector commander last summer, was removed from duty Monday morning pending results of the investigation after Rear Adm. Arthur E. Brooks, commander of the Coast Guard's 17th District, arrived in Anchorage.

Reached Monday night, Brooks said the investigation of Hamilton, who held the third-highest billet in the state, has been going for about a month and is likely to continue for another month or two. The investigation, conducted by the Coast Guard Investigative Service, has produced increasing evidence of misconduct in that time, he said.

"We do have an ongoing Coast Guard investigation that had determined enough misconduct that I felt that I could no longer leave him in command," Brooks said. "I still don't know the full extent of it, or the degree of this, and so decisions on what to do and where it will ultimately go still pend. But I've reached a point where I needed to relieve him."

Brooks said he will review the results of the internal investigation and make a recommendation to the commandant of the Coast Guard in Washington D.C., who will make the final decision. The results will be released once the commandant makes a decision.

Hamilton could be reinstated to his position or permanently removed from the Coast Guard depending on the results, Eggen said.

"If he is found guilty, it's likely he will not remain with the Coast Guard," Eggen said. "We have allegations; that's all we have right now."

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This one doesnt sound good at all.

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Originally posted by kekojones123:
None ever sound good. As someone mentioned before, no one who is "temporarily" relieve ever gets their command back. And, the damage is already done and is irreversible. That's when the unwritten term among the assignment officers is used "damaged goods".

Anyone knows how many COs have been relieved in the past 5 years against the previous 10 years? I was just wondering, but I am willing to bet some money that far more have been relieved this past 5 years than during the previous 10 years!

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Originally posted by Bull444:
Officer Personnel Management (OPM) tracks all the information your talking about. They have the numbers on who was relieved and why?

I can tell you this a CG council I was on a few years ago gathered the numbers on OINC, XPO & EPO reliefs for FY 2006 (related to an issue we were working) and what we found was eye opening. 90% of the reliefs in FY06 were alcohol or 8H related only 10% were relief for cause.

I'm not sure what the Officer side would be but the information is out there and being tracked.

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Originally posted by antguy:
I haven't posted in a few years, mostly because I am a sitting OINC.

I consider myself a good leader and mentor to those that work for me, but after being in this seat for a while I have seen/heard some things that have caused me to make less ripples in the pond. Perhaps paranoid is the proper word???

This is not the CG I joined 17 years ago, it has changed, some for the better, some for the worse. Needless to say I still love the spirit of the service, but I will leave before that love is tainted.

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Originally posted by SeamanStevens:
Everyone knows that the Good Admiral has already forgot more than that ex-CO will ever know.

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Is this a sarcasm or a cheap shot?

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People can justify anything. Especially those in a position of power.

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Originally posted by SeamanStevens:

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Is this a sarcasm or a cheap shot?

Every shot on here is cheap. They all cost virtually nothing.

Was it sarcastic? Yes, but that is nothing new either.

From what I gathered it was an impression that I had. I could be wrong but in any case what does that matter? It's a board on the internet. Some may think this small piece of the internet is something more...but people tend to have many delusions anyway.

I simply could not find a meaningful reason as to why the CO was relieved. Seems to appear to be due to a personality issue not from the former CO.

People can justify anything. Especially those in a position of power.