CAPE MAY – There is a new commanding officer aboard the 44-year-old Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous.
As of a May 16 change-of-command ceremony at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, Cmdr. Terry Johns read his orders and assumed command from Cmdr. Gregory H. Magee in a ceremony steeped in sea-faring tradition.
Magee is transferring to the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., where he will study strategic leadership.
“I’m extremely proud of the crew of Vigorous and their efforts in going above and beyond to keep a 44-year-old cutter operational,” stated Magee in a release. “Their efforts overcame numerous challenges, including two hurricane evacuations to ensure we were ready for patrol.”
Under Magee’s command, the 80-person Vigorous crew served as on-scene commander for the cruise ship Carnival Triumph rescue and conducted a six-day escort of the ship to Mobile, Ala.
They also conducted six search and rescue cases resulting in five lives saved, interdicted 112 Haitian migrants and embarked an additional 60 from another cutter, all of whom were repatriated to Haiti, and interdicted a coastal freighter with a hidden compartment containing 145 pounds of cocaine and 245 pounds of marijuana.
According to the Coast Guard Auxiliary’s 5th District website, Johns enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1982. His early tours of duty include Station Channel Islands, California, Cutter Decisive, Seventh District Operations Center Miami, and Group Mayport, Fla.
In 1992, Johns earned his commission upon graduation of Officer Candidate School in Yorktown, Va., and was subsequently assigned to the Cutter Gallatin in Governors Island, N.Y., as Deck Watch Officer and Assistant Navigator. In 1999, Johns was accepted for the Coast Guard’s Advanced Computers and Electronics Program (ACET) and completed an Associate’s Degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management at Charleston Southern University.
In 2002, Johns served as commanding officer of USCGC Galveston Island in Guam. The cutter was responsible for maintaining maritime law enforcement and security and made several training and humanitarian missions to seven remote islands of the Federated States of Micronesia and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
In 2004, Johns represented the Coast Guard as Coast Guard Liaison Officer (CGLO) to the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, The Bahamas, and provided training, coordination and assistance to maritime partner agencies in The Bahamas.
Following his tour as CGLO, CDR Johns served as executive officer, USCGC Dependable, in Cape May. The cutter performed multi-mission tasking and law enforcement throughout the Atlantic and Caribbean Oceans. Also while in Dependable, Johns completed a Masters of Science in Business through the University of Maryland Distance Learning Program.
Following his tour in Dependable, Johns was assigned as Coast Guard Liaison to Department of State. He was one of two principal facilitators in the U. S. Government’s Maritime Operational Threat Response (MOTR) process and served as the Competent Authority of the U.S. in support of drug interdiction.
Until he assumed command of Vigorous, Johns was assigned as director of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for the Fifth Coast Guard District, Northern Region. As such, he was responsible for policy, readiness and implementation of a program that incorporates over 2,600 Auxiliarists into missions, priorities and programs that support the Coast Guard and the nation.
Medium endurance cutters like the Vigorous are configured to support multi-week offshore patrols including operations requiring enhanced communications, and helicopter and pursuit boat operations, which provide a key capability for homeland security missions at sea.
