Rear Admiral Andy Sugimoto assumed his duties as Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard District in June of 2022. He oversees the Coast Guard’s safety, security, law enforcement and environmental stewardship operations from the California-Oregon border to Peru including Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.
Rear Admiral Sugimoto previously served as the Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant for Intelligence, where he led the efforts of over 1,100 intelligence professionals who conducted the service’s intelligence programs, to include collection activities, analysis and production, geospatial intelligence, counterintelligence, cryptology and critical IT and security functions. During this time, he also served as Director, Coast Guard Investigative Service, where he oversaw more than 400 civilian, active duty, and reserve Special Agents and support personnel responsible for investigating actual, alleged, or suspected criminal activity in support of USCG personnel, operations, and assets world-wide.
His afloat assignments included serving as Commanding Officer of USCGC STRATTON homeported in Alameda; CA. STRATTON conducted operations in support of OP ARCTIC SHIELD north of Alaska and counter narcotics patrols in the Eastern Pacific. Other afloat assignments included serving as Commanding Officer of the CGC ACUSHNET in Ketchikan, AK; and CGC TYBEE, San Diego, CA.
Rear Admiral Sugimoto also served as Executive Officer on CGC CHASE, San Diego, CA, CGC MONOMOY in Woods Hole, MA as well as Deck Watch Officer on CGC SHERMAN in Alameda, CA. He has served more than 12 years at sea and is a proud Cutterman.
Some of his additional staff and ashore assignments included serving as Chief of Staff of the Eighth Coast Guard District, overseeing USCG operations spanning 26 states including the Gulf coastline from Florida to Mexico and the adjacent inland and offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. He also served as the Chief of the Response Division at the First Coast Guard District and was responsible for conducting operations from the Canadian border to Northern New Jersey including security and defense of New York City and Boston harbors. Chief, Incident Management Branch of the Ninth Coast Guard District, which spans the five Great Lakes, Saint Lawrence Seaway and parts of the surrounding states, including 1,500 miles of international border.
Rear Admiral Sugimoto was also responsible for safely prosecuting search and rescue cases and responding to all operational incidents which occur within his area of responsibility. He was also assigned as Staff Judge Advocate for the Ninth Coast Guard District, Cleveland, OH; practiced Operational Law, Military Justice and Legal Assistance for the Maintenance and Logistics Command Pacific, Alameda, CA and stood watch as Command Duty Officer for the Eleventh Coast Guard District in Long Beach, CA and the PACAREA Command Center in Alameda, CA.
He is a native of California. Rear Admiral Sugimoto graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Government. He graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2002 and was conferred a Juris Doctorate.