Sector San Juan receives new commander for Coast Guard forces in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

Coast Guard Sector San Juan received a new commander during the unit’s change of command ceremony, Thursday. The San Juan Sector commander is responsible for Coast Guard forces in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and oversees the unit’s 1.3 million square nautical mile area of responsibility in the Eastern Caribbean. Rear Adm. Douglas M. Schofield, commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District, presided over the change of command ceremony in which Capt. Luis J. Rodríguez relieved Capt. José E. Díaz as the unit’s commander. Under Capt. Díaz’s leadership, Coast Guard crews saved over 1,227 lives and assisted 7,440 others, interdicted over 5,500 undocumented migrants and 1,000 suspected smugglers, and seized approximately 25,000 kilograms in cocaine with an estimated wholesale value of more than $500 million.