THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410270173
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 186 lines
THE COAST GUARD budget, which held steady while other other branches of the military were slashing people and equipment in recent years, now is beginning a gradual downward slide.
``It will decline about 3 or 4 percent per year over the next four years,'' Fifth Coast Guard District Commander William J. Ecker said. ``That's about $100 million per year.''
Ecker is emphatic that budget restraints will not cut services.
``We're not going to stop doing anything,'' he said. ``We may do it differently, but everything is going to stay in place.''
A ``streamlining study'' over the next several months might determine which, if any, locations on the East Coast will be cut.
``We have faster helicopters and faster boats, but we have the same number of locations on the coast before we had them,'' he said. ``It may be that we can close some of them.''
In addition, he said, the Coast Guard has some ``people reduction targets.''
``We'll cut some by attrition and some will be asked to leave,'' Ecker said. ``That leaves motivated, dedicated people and makes a robust, healthy work force. We're not immune to problems and our people mirror society. We have absolute zero tolerance for drugs.''
The Coast Guard right now has the highest re-enlistment rates in recent history.
``We also get former Air Force and Navy personnel who enlist, and they are very motivated people,'' he said.
Despite the prospect of dealing with a stagnant, and now decreasing budget, Ecker wanted the job in Portsmouth as the crown for a Coast Guard career spanning four decades.
``I have to retire in two years,'' the 55-year-old rear admiral said. ``I can think of no better place to finish my Coast Guard career. I wanted to come here.''
The most attractive aspect of the Fifth District, he said, is that it deals with all pieces of the Coast Guard mission.
From the traditional activity of rescuing boaters to enforcing fisheries regulations to dealing with drug activities and illegal migrants, the Fifth District does it all.
``I like the mix of services here,'' he said. ``This was my preferred location. I knew what I was getting into.''
Ecker took command of the district in June. He knew what he was getting because he was here six years ago as chief of staff for Rear Adm. Alan D. Breed.
``I'm still visiting the sites in the district,'' Ecker said. ``I told them I wasn't going to go on a whirlwind tour. I already know the geography because I've been here before. I don't have to go anywhere to learn that.''
Since June, Ecker has made his official first visits to New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania to the north and recently he took a swing down south to Fort Macon and other bases in the Carolinas.
All the mid-Atlantic stations plus all the incidents at sea from New York through South Carolina belong to Ecker. Some units at the large support centers here and in Elizabeth City do not fall under his command but he has the bulk of them.
The Fifth District currently has 2,350 active duty members, 1,200 reservists, 124 civilians and 6,800 auxiliary members.
``We're lucky we've got the Coast Guard Auxiliary,'' he said. ``There are about 3,000 of them right here. They inspect boats, teach boating courses and help with regattas. They do a lot.''
Boating safety at all levels is a particular interest of Ecker.
``The annual death rate among boaters concerns me,'' he said. ``We still have a long way to go to get the public to the auxiliary classes. People will buy a boat and take off and so many have never taken a course in boating safety.''
Ecker would like to see more families - mom, dad and all the kids - take a safety course before they ever get on a boat.
During his previous assignment as chief of the Office of Navigation Safety and Waterway Services in Washington, Ecker was responsible for a long list of Coast Guard activities including recreational boating safety programs and the auxiliary, which has about 40,000 volunteers nationwide.
He also has concerns about commercial fishermen. Federal legislation passed in 1990 requires vessels going offshore to have certain equipment, including life rafts, exposure suits and signaling devices.
``It's really very modest, just the basics for life-saving,'' he said. ``This equipment, a modest investment, reduces the death rate.''
Fishing boats checked at sea will be sent back to shore if they don't have the required equipment, he said.
The safety of merchant vessels also gets the Coast Guard's attention.
Under the Port State Control Initiative, the Coast Guard boards a ship to determine if its systems are in working order.
``The program was started to keep substandard merchant ships away from our shores,'' Ecker said. ``For every ship flying an United State flag, there are 14 that aren't. We target them by their records, and we take a look at them in port.''
The Coast Guard also spends a lot of time enforcing the laws of the National Marine Fisheries Service, attempting to nab the commercial fishing vessels not abiding by seasons for catching certain species.
``Everybody is concerned about the dwindling supplies of fish,'' he said. ``We're doing more fisheries enforcement on a regular basis.''
Next to pulling boaters out of high seas, the most high profile activities surround drugs and migrants.
``Drug interdiction has been a steady state of operation for the last few years,'' Ecker said. ``There's been no measurable increase.''
The Coast Guard ``never really had a good handle on how much (drugs) was actually coming in by boat,'' he said.
``We're not picking up a lot of marijuana at sea right now, and they're almost building boats around cocaine, so it's almost impossible to find it,'' he said. ``One thing they're doing now is dropping it from air to boats for quick delivery.''
The same vessels that deal with drugs also deal with migrants and migrants have consumed a lot of Coast Guard time on both coasts recently.
``We picked up 100 Chinese the first week I was here,'' Ecker said. ``We've sent vessels from here to the Caribbean for migrant interdiction.''
In the recent Haitian operation, the Fifth District not only sent vessels to the scene but also had 30 to 35 Coast Guardsmen ashore in the area.
From the Caribbean warmth, some of the Fifth District crews soon will be moving into winter ice-breaking duties.
``Right over on the Eastern Shore, we have ice activity,'' Ecker said. ``The only fuel they get comes by barge so we have to keep the waterways clear of ice. You'd be surprised how many places there are in the district.''
A lot of things have changed in the Coast Guard since Ecker graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1960.
The most obvious, of course, is the presence of women in the service.
``We were the first of the services to offer real opportunities for women,'' Ecker said. ``We have women flying and on warships. We have one here who is the chief engineer on a boat. Women have been in the academy since 1980.''
For a man who didn't set out to be a career Coast Guardsman, the admiral has done very well.
``I wasn't certain what I was going to do when I went to the academy,'' he said. ``I knew I was going to serve a certain number of years to pay back for my education. I wasn't setting out to be an admiral.''
Ecker became commander of the Fifth Coast Guard District, headquartered in downtown June 22.
Ecker and his wife plan to retire somewhere on the East Coast.
``She's from Maryland, so we would like to be in this part of the country,'' he said.
Over the past 34 years, they have lived many places. He has served on four cutters and went to Vietnam on the CGC Mellon. He has been an assistant professor of engineering at the Merchant Marine Academy, served as commanding officer of offices in Missouri, Louisiana, Alabama and Ohio and twice worked in Washington.
Six years ago when he worked here as chief of staff, Ecker and his family lived in Churchland. Now they reside in the Coast Guard owned commander's home in Glensheallah.
Ecker said he was ``sort of disappointed'' that so little has happened in Portsmouth since he lived here six years ago; but he also is optimistic about current plans for Portsmouth and the continued discussions of regionalism.
``This is a very, very desirable area for Coast Guard people now,'' he said. ``They can come here with some stability in their lives because there are a number of places to be stationed.''
The choices go beyond the district office, to the centers at Craney Island and Yorktown as well as bases in northeastern North Carolina.
``Some people can be transferred from one to another and don't have to move their families,'' he said. ``They can stay longer in the area.'' MEMO: CLOSE-UP
Rear Admiral William J. Ecker BORN: Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1939, SPOUSE:
The former Anne Parker Davis of Catonsville, Md.
CHILDREN: Jennifer, 25, a graduate of Radford College who works in
Herndon; Michael, 24, a graduate of University of South Florida who is a
second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force; and Julie, 16, a student at
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
RECOGNITION: Two Legion of Merit awards; three Meritorious Service
Medals; four Coast Guard Commendation Medals; the Navy Commendation
Medal; and the Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon.
INTERESTS: Outdoor sportsman, preferring golf, tennis and sailing in
his spare time. He has a 17-foot sailboat on a trailer.
``I think it's spent more time on the highway than in the water,'' he
said.''
GOODWILL: Involved in the Chamber of Commerce; the United Way; the
American Red Cross; the YMCA; and the Life-Saving Museum.
``It's all part of being a good neighbor,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by Mark Mitchell
Rear Adm. William J. Ecker
Staff photos by MARK MITCHELL
Fifth Coast Guard District Commander William J. Ecker works in his
office in the Portsmouth Federal Building. The most attractive
aspect of the Fifth District, he said, is that it deals with all
pieces of the Coast Guard mission.
Fifth Coast Guard District Commander William J. Ecker will end his
career here.
by CNB