R 041806Z FEB 13

ALCGPSC 018/13
SUBJ: DEATH OF RETIRED FLAG OFFICER
A. UNITED STATES COAST GUARD REGULATIONS 1992, COMDTINST M5000.3
(SERIES)
1. The Commandant announces with regret the death of RADM Joel D.
Sipes, USCG (retired) on Friday 1 February 2013, in Houston, TX.  He
was 74.
2. By order of the Commandant and IAW Ref (A), the flag of the United
States will be flown at half-mast on all Coast Guard buildings,
grounds, and aboard vessels not underway on Wednesday 6 February 2013
in honor of RADM Sipes.
3. A memorial service will be held at 1100 (central time) on
Wednesday 6 February 2013, at Clear Lake United Methodist Church,
16335 El Camino Real, Houston, TX  77062.  Uniform is Service Dress
Blue.  In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the Clear
Lake United Methodist Church Building Fund.
4. Burial: The cremated remains of RADM Sipes will receive final
disposition in a private ceremony later this year.
5. Joel D. Sipes was born 2 February 1937 in Altoona, PA.  He
graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1959.  He served
afloat as a deck watch officer and student engineer aboard USCGC
EASTWIND (WAGB 279) and as the Assistant Engineer aboard USCGC BIBB
(WHEC 31).  As a Company Tactical Officer at the Coast Guard Academy
he compiled and published Leadership in Service of Country and
Humanity, the text on military leadership that was used by cadets for
two decades.  In the marine safety field his assignments included
Engineering Inspector at Marine Inspection Office, Baltimore, MD,
Commanding Officer, Marine Inspection Detachment, Lake Charles, LA,
Branch Chief in the Marine Environmental Protection Division at Coast
Guard Headquarters, Officer in Charge of Marine Inspection and
Captain of the Port of Corpus Christi, TX, and Captain of the Port of
Houston, TX.  He served on the staff of the Eighth Coast Guard
District in New Orleans, LA as Chief of Operations and as Chief of
Staff.  He served as Special Assistant on the staff of the Commandant
and from 1981 to 1983 was the Executive Assistant to the Commandant.
For more than two decades RADM Sipes represented the United States in
various roles as a member of delegations to the International
Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United
Nations with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping
and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.  He was the U.S.
spokesman to the 1973 International Marine Pollution Conference,
which resulted in the MARPOL 73 accord.  He was the U.S. Co-chairman
of the U.S./USSR Bilateral Committee on the Prevention of Pollution
from ships, and of the U.S./France Bilateral Committee on Pollution
of the Marine Environment.  He headed U.S. delegations to meetings of
both the Maritime Safety Committee and the Marine Environment
Protection Committee of the IMO.  He was deeply involved in the U.S.
response to the 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship ACHILLE LAURO. In
May 1988 he assumed duties as Chief, Office of Marine Safety,
Security and Environmental Protection.  In that position he was
responsible for review of the design, construction, and inspection of
commercial vessels, the safe marine transportation of oil and
hazardous materials, licensing and certification of Merchant
Mariners, port safety and security, as well as prevention of and
response to marine pollution.  He testified before Congress on the
1989 EXXON VALDEZ oil spill.  He next moved to Boston, MA where he
served as Commander, First Coast Guard District.  He retired on 1
July 1993. RADM Sipes earned a Masters degree in Public
Administration from the University of Rhode Island and was a graduate
of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, DC.  His
decorations include two Meritorious Service Medals, five Coast Guard
Commendation Medals, and the Distinguished Marksman Badge.  He was a
long-time member of the American Society of Naval Engineers.  As a
retiree he chaired the National Research Council committee that
produced the 1996 report, Stemming the Tide: Controlling
Introductions of Nonindigenous Species by Ships Ballast Water. He
also was a member of the Houston Maritime Arbitrators Association.
6. RDML Dave Callahan, Commander, CG Personnel Service Center, sends.
7. Internet release authorized.