RESPONSE DEPARTMENT
SECTOR NORTH CAROLINA
Commander John Suckow
Response Department Head
Commander John Suckow assumed the duties as Sector North Carolina Chief of Response in July, 2023. He is responsible for all search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, port and waterways security, and maritime environmental response operations in an area spanning 3,375 nautical miles of inland, river, and coastal waterways, 2 military and economic strategic ports, and three interstate lakes. He also serves as a Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator and oversees eight Coast Guard boat stations throughout the state of North Carolina. Prior to this assignment, CDR Suckow was the International Fisheries Team Lead at District Seventeen Dre, in Juneau, Alaska, managing the district’s counter Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing operations on the high seas of the North Pacific Ocean.
Commander Suckow enlisted in the Coast Guard in 2003. Upon graduation from boot camp he reported to the CGC CHINOOK in New London, Connecticut where he struck Boatswain’s Mate. He was selected for Officer Candidate School in 2006 and upon graduation reported to Sector Southeastern New England’s Incident Management Division, in Woods Hole Massachusetts. In 2012, the Coast Guard sent him to graduate school for Performance Technology and Instructional Design at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. His follow-on tour was at TRACEN Cape May, New Jersey, managing the design and updates to Recruit Training. His next assignment was Incident Management Division Chief at Sector Los Angeles – Long Beach from 2017-2020.
Commander Suckow’s military awards include one Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal, four Coast Guard Commendation Medals, ten Meritorious Team Commendations, and other personal and team awards. Originally from Keansburg, New Jersey, he currently lives in Wilmington with his wife Jessica and their son Hayden, eleven years old, and their daughter, Amaya, eight years old.
Last Modified: 10 July 2023