THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 5, 1994 TAG: 9411050656
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The departing commanding officer of the Coast Guard air station, Norman V. Scurria, is known among colleagues as someone who demands action, not just words.
``Some of us jokingly referred to him as the man who won't take `Yes' for an answer,'' Capt. Michael K. Cain, chief of staff with the 5th Coast Guard District, said in a change-of-command ceremony on Friday.
Scurria, 48, received the service's Meritorious Service Medal before stepping down as head of Air Station Elizabeth City to become chief of operations for the 5th District in Portsmouth.
Taking the reins is Capt. Stanley J. Walz, the 24th commanding officer of the 55-year-old air station. Walz, also 48, recently completed a tour of duty as the Coast Guard liaison/action officer in the Pentagon.
Officers presiding at the ceremony credited Scurria with bringing the Total Quality Management business concept to the air station, as well as leading the unit's air crews in successful search-and-rescue and emergency operations.
``He reached out for ideas from anyone who was willing to share them, regardless of what their ranks might be,'' Cain said. ``It takes a special person to lead a complex organization such as this air station.''
Scurria, who assumed command in July 1992, told air station personnel and about 200 seated audience members that he wished he could adequately describe the ``relationship of a command like this.''
``I came up speechless in this endeavor,'' Scurria said. ``This idea . . . resides just out of reach of the ability to describe it, for anyone.''
Honor and trust, he said, are the key values that drive Coast Guard efforts.
``You must never, never allow them to be compromised,'' Scurria said. ``Those are the center of gravity of what enable us to do what we do.''
Saying that one of his chief roles had been ``tea-leaf reader,'' Scurria predicted the Coast Guard would remain active and valuable during an age of military downsizing and budget-tightening.
``Our world's changing on us, and nobody, nobody has a clue as to what we should do to respond to that change,'' Scurria said. ``We've got to continue doing what we're doing, and more, and better, for less money.''
Scurria graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1968 and served as a gunnery officer during the Vietnam War. He has served in operational assignments that include Air Stations Miami, San Francisco, Cape Cod and Elizabeth City. He also served two staff assignments at Coast Guard Headquarters.
Walz said Friday his first operational duty station was at Elizabeth City. A 1968 graduate of St. Joseph's College, he completed two active Navy tours as a C-130 aicraft commander and served at Andrews Air Force Base before being commissioned as a Coast Guard aviator in 1975.
``It's great to be back,'' Walz said. ``It's great to be back in aviation. It's great to be back in Carolina on this beautiful morning. . . . I'll never be able to explain how excited I am to be here to work with you.
KEYWORDS: CHANGE OF COMMAND by CNB