Captain John W. Koster

CAPT Koster assumed command of U.S. Coast Guard Activities Far East (with offices in Tokyo, Japan and Singapore) in June 2010.  In this position he is responsible for a diverse array of maritime safety, security and environmental protection activities across 47 countries and territories throughout the Asia-Pacific region (which encompasses eastern Russian Federation, south and westward through Asia to India, the Indian Ocean island nations, plus Oceania and down to Australia and New Zealand).  

CAPT Koster's duties within the region include Officer in Charge, Marine Inspection (flag administration, including inspection & certification and casualty investigations for U.S. flag deep draft commercial vessels and Mobile Offshore Drilling Units, and the Military Sealift Command and Ready Reserve Force fleets, as well as Port State Control examinations of higher risk foreign ships destined for America); conduct of the Coast Guard’s International Port Security Program with all trading partner nations; and as Coast Guard Liaison to U.S. Forces Japan. 

Previous tours of duty include assignments as Commanding Officer of USCG Activities Europe in Rotterdam, The Netherlands; on the USCG Headquarters Prevention Directorate’s Quality Assurance & Traveling Inspectors staff in Washington DC; Executive Officer of USCG Activities Europe; Chief of USCG Pacific Area/Eleventh District Marine Safety Division Environmental Response Branch in Alameda CA (where he saw service as the Coast Guard Exercise Director for the gigantic 1998 Alaska Spills of National Significance pollution response exercise); Supervisor of USCG Marine Safety Detachment, Massena NY ("Gatekeeper to the Great Lakes"); Chief, Inspections Dept./Senior Investigating Officer of USCG Marine Safety Office Detroit, MI; Duty Inspector/Investigator at USCG Marine Safety Office Puget Sound, Seattle WA; and as an Search & Rescue helicopter Aircraft Commander at USCG Airstations in Texas and Puerto Rico. 

CAPT Koster hails from the San Francisco Bay Area and is a 1976 graduate of Humboldt State University, Arcata CA.  Following college, he joined the U.S. Peace Corps and served as a volunteer Marine Biologist in Kenya, East Africa.  He is a 2005-06 Fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International Studies SEMINAR XXI (Foreign Politics, International Relations & the National Interest) and a recipient of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation’s Environmental Hero Award.  He also holds certifications as ISO 9001:2000 QMS and Maritime Auditor, is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), and has twice served as member of an international audit team under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Voluntary Member State Audit Scheme.  He is a member of the Green Award Foundation Board of Experts and frequently serves as America’s representative to the regional Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control regimes.  He has two sons who are Silicon Valley senior IT engineers.