Hes reached more than 30 years in the U.S. Coast Guard; his assignment as commander of Sector Columbia River ends June 23; his eldest son just started as Coast Guard aviator in Air Station North Bend.

Capt. Bruce Jones has several reasons to retire this summer after handing command of Sector Columbia River off to Capt. Dan Travers, chief of incident command in the Coast Guards 17th District out of Juneau, Alaska.

Linda and I decided within a year of moving here that this is where we wanted to stay, especially after a dozen moves over 30 years, said Jones, whos been renting during his three-year assignment, but recently purchased a house near the Columbia River.

He inherited the sector 10 months after it came into existence, taking over for former Capt. Doug Kaup, who also retired in Astoria. In 2010, The Coast Guard moved leadership of the areas units form Portland to Astoria.

I think our people do a marvelous job of overcoming the challenges of our large geographical area, said Jones about the sector. It includes 33 ports and 420 nautical miles of coastline and 465 miles of navigable rivers (the Columbia, Willamette and Snake River systems) from the Pacific Ocean to Idaho.

Probably the best part about the Coast Guard is that we have such outstanding people, said Jones about the Guardsmen he commands, from rescue swimmers, buoy tenders and pilots to vessel inspectors, surf boat crew members and auxiliarists. Its amazing how demanding it is, and those guys are just true professionals.

I wont miss the long hours, the late nights, the phone calls at 2 in the morning. But Ill really miss working with our people.

Being commander of Sector Columbia River includes two jobs. Jones is Captain of the Port for the Columbia while also Commander of Air Station Astoria in Warrenton.

Travers, who was chosen in December for the posting in Astoria, had to be a qualified helicopter pilot as well hold enough ranking. Jones said he specializes in searches and rescues and oil-spill responses.

Its a great fit here, as theyre shipping crude oil down the Columbia, said Jones, who will meet Travers a week early for a tour of the sector and a meeting with all the maritime stakeholders, from governments to businesses along the Columbia.

Settling in Astoria

This is vacation to us still, theres so much we havent done, said his wife Linda, whos moved 14 times during her husbands tenure in the Coast Guard. She said the family, which has been working on the new home, is looking forward to hiking, kayaking, camping and otherwise exploring the North Coast and Oregon.

Jake Jones, 18, their youngest son, is readying to graduate from Astoria High School and is waiting to hear back from colleges hes applied to in Oregon and Washington to study psychology and exercise science.

Its kind of the culmination of my childhood, growing up in a military family, he said.

His older brother Nate Jones, 20, is in his third year of the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., and Wes Jones, 24, recently graduated from flight school and was sent to Station North Bend. Jake said hes looking forward to spending a lot of time outdoors with his eldest brother and father, who said hes got to get back in shape for backpacking trips this summer.

Capt. Jones came to the Pacific Northwest from Washington, D.C. In the capital, Jones was deputy director or enterprise strategic management and chief of the Office of Strategic Analysis.

He graduated from Coast Guard Officer Candidate School in 1984 and naval flight school a year later. Hes commanded Sector Lake Michigan and Air Station New Orleans, where he led helicopters in rescue missions after Hurricane Katrina. In Traverse City, Mich., he was executive officer at the air station, and hes held several assignments at Coast Guard headquarters.

As a pilot, hes logged more than 5,600 hours of flight time and has been awarded Aircrew of the Year and Pilot of the Year from various aviation associations. His military awards include the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medal (four times), Air Medal (three times) and the Navy Commendation Medal.

Living in the now

For now, Jones said, he’s focused on running the sector until his retirement, but said he will eventually seek employment in the area. Hes already on the board of United Way of Clatsop County and will be looking for other ways to get involved in the community.

Linda is involved in Assistance League of the Columbia Pacific, Lower Columbia Hospice (board chairwoman) and Oregon State University Master Gardeners. She founded the Coast Guard Columbia River Family Network Facebook page to help incoming Guardsmen settle in town.

As for the familys youngest Jones, hes undecided yet about his future path and whether it will include the military. Id like to experience the world, he said.

Look for further coverage of Jones change of command and retirement June 23.