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Commander Gibbons, Executive Officer

Commander Owen L. Gibbons
 Executive Officer
 Training Center Cape May

 United States Coast Guard


Commander Owen Gibbons, a native of East Greenwich, RI enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1985 and was assigned as a deck seaman aboard cutter REDWOOD in New London, CT.  In 1987 he attended Electronic Technician Class “A” School and served aboard the cutter TAMPA in Portsmouth, VA and Station Tybee in Savannah, GA before attending Officer Candidate School in 1993.  He was assigned to Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic as Training Officer after receiving his commission. 

In 1995 he was assigned to cutter FIREBUSH in Kodiak, AK where he served as a Deck Watch Officer, Operations Officer, Navigator, and Boarding Officer.  In 1997 he was assigned as the Commanding Officer of cutter POINT FRANCIS in New London, CT and cross-decked to commission the cutter CHINOOK in the same homeport.  He was assigned to the Coast Guard Academy’s Cadet Professional Development Branch in 2000 where he served as the Ship Control and Navigation Training Simulator (SCANTS) Coordinator.  In 2001 he was reassigned as the Assistant School Chief for the Command and Operations School at the Coast Guard’s Leadership Development Center.  In 2003 he served as Commanding Officer of the cutter WILLIAM TATE in Philadelphia, PA before attending the University of Pennsylvania in 2005 where he earned a Master of Science degree in Organizational Dynamics. 

 In 2007 he served as the Deputy Chief of the Office of Leadership and Professional Development at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.  He most recently served as Commanding Officer of CGC WILLOW in Newport, RI in 2008 before assuming his current assignment as Executive Officer of Training Center Cape May in July of 2011.

Commander Gibbons is a Cutterman with nearly 14 years at sea.  His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, four Coast Guard Commendation Medals, two Coast Guard Achievement Medals, and three Commandant’s Letters of Commendation each with operational distinguishing devices.  He is married to the former Katherine Minor a native of Virginia Beach, VA.  Their daughter Kaitlin, a recent graduate of Western New England University, currently works and lives in RI.