Meet the New Commanding Officer of TRACEN

Capt. Owen Gibbons will relieve Capt. G. Todd Prestidge and serve as the new Commanding Officer of U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May (TRACEN).
Gibbons enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1985 and served as a deck seaman aboard CGC Redwood in New London, Conn. before attending Electronic Technician Class “A” School in 1987. He served as a Petty Officer aboard CGC Tampa in Portsmouth, Va. and at Station Tybee in Savannah, Ga., and then attended Officer Candidate School in 1993. He was assigned to Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic on Governor’s Island, N.Y. as Training Officer after receiving his commission.
In 1995, he was assigned to CGC Firebush in Kodiak, Ala. where he served as a Deck Watch Officer, Operations Officer, Navigator and Boarding Officer. In 1997, he was assigned as the last Commanding Officer of CGC Point Francis in New London, Conn. and cross-decked to commission CGC Chinook in the same home port. Initially assigned as the Ship Control and Navigation Training Simulator (SCANTS) Coordinator at the Coast Guard Academy in 2000, he was later selected to serve as the Assistant School Chief for the Command and Operations School at the Leadership Development Center.
In 2003, he served as Commanding Officer of the CGC William Tate in Philadelphia, Pa. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a Master of Science degree in Organizational Dynamics in 2006. He served as the Deputy Chief of the Office of Leadership and Professional Development at Coast Guard Headquarters, and was subsequently assigned as Commanding Officer of CGC Willow in Newport, R.I. in 2008. In 2011, he served as the Executive Officer of our very own TRACEN, and then in 2014 reported as Officer Candidate School Chief at the Leadership Development Center.
Gibbons is an Honorary Chief Petty Officer, a permanent Cutterman with nearly 14 years at sea, and a Coast Guard Master Training Specialist. His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (2), Coast Guard Commendation Medal (4) and Coast Guard Achievement Medal (2). He and Kathy, his wife of 30 years, are proud parents of their daughter Kaitlin who works as an Instructional Designer for Bisk Education in Tampa, Fla.
Since Gibbons was the previous Executive Officer at TRACEN, he and his family are well known in the community and are very familiar with the mission of TRACEN.
Cape May County will officially welcome Gibbons “home” after a two-year absence at the traditional Change of Command Ceremony on June 17 at 6:30 p.m. on TRACEN’s Parade Field. This will mark the formal transfer of authority and responsibility for TRACEN from Capt. Prestidge to Capt. Gibbons, and will be done in front of the assembled crew and entire workforce.
The Change of Command Ceremony is by invitation only.