Oceania District

Honolulu, Hawaii
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Rear Admiral Wayne R. Arguin Jr.

Oceania District District Commander

U.S. Coast Guard

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Rear Admiral Wayne R. Arguin Jr.

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Rear Admiral Arguin assumed command of the United States Coast Guard Oceania District in June 2026. As the Oceania District Commander, he is responsible for all Coast Guard operations in the central Pacific, western Pacific, and Oceania regions.

He previously served as the Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, and was responsible for the development of national policy, standards, and programs promoting Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Stewardship. Three Directorates carry out the mission: Inspections and Compliance, Marine Transportation Systems, and Commercial Regulations and Standards. Programs include waterways management, navigation and boating safety, ports and facilities, merchant mariner credentialing, vessel documentation, marine casualty investigation, commercial vessel inspections, and port state control.

Rear Admiral Arguin is a 1992 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and in 2001, he earned a Master of Science degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Prior to his current assignment, Rear Admiral Arguin served as the Director of Inspection and Compliance, also at Coast Guard Headquarters. His previous operational assignments include Sector Commander, Sector New Orleans. He also served as Executive Officer of Marine Safety Office Memphis, TN and Prevention Department Head at Sector Lower Mississippi River where he coordinated waterways management, vessel inspections, mariner licensing and marine casualty investigations on the Lower Mississippi River and its tributaries. In 1994, Captain Arguin earned his Marine Inspection qualifications at Marine Safety Office Hampton Roads and served as senior marine inspector performing commercial vessel and cruise ship inspections at Marine Safety Office Tampa, Florida. He was also assigned to USCGC HARRIET LANE (WMEC-903) as a student engineer and Damage Control Assistant (1992- 1994).

His staff assignments include Director of Emerging Policy and Executive Officer, Hull Division Chief and Salvage Engineering Response Team (SERT) Leader at the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Center. He was responsible for the evaluation and approval of vessel structures, stability, fire protection systems and coordinated salvage engineering support to the Coast Guard Captains of the Port (COTP) and Federal On-Scene Coordinators (FOSC) in response to a variety of vessel casualties.

 

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Master Chief Christopher “Chip” Melleby

Command Master Chief, U.S. Coast Guard Oceania

U.S. Coast Guard

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Master Chief Christopher “Chip” Melleby Official Portrait

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Master Chief Melleby assumed the duties as Command Senior Enlisted Leader for the Oceania District on May 15, 2025. As the Command Senior Enlisted Leader, he provides enlisted perspective to the Commander on all workforce matters and Coast Guard missions throughout Oceania, including Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and activities in Singapore and Japan.

Most recently, Master Chief Melleby served as a Faculty Advisor at the U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Academy in Newport, Rhode Island from 2021-2025.

Master Chief Melleby previously served as a Silver Badge Command Senior Enlisted Leader for Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England in Woods Hole, MA and Coast Guard Sector Boston in Boston, MA. His additional assignments include Pacific Area/District 11 Command Center, Alameda, CA; Leadership and Management School Instructor, Petaluma, CA; USCGC MUNRO (WHEC-724) Alameda, CA; Coast Guard Headquarters Office of Defense Operations (G-OPD) Washington, DC; and Communication Station Kodiak (NOJ), Kodiak, AK. In addition to these assignments, Master Chief Melleby deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with U.S. Naval Forces Expeditionary Strike Group-Five - USS BONHOME RICHARD.

Master Chief Melleby is a graduate of the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy Class 136 and Coast Guard Senior Enlisted Leader Course Class 36. Additionally Master Chief Melleby is a proud graduate from several Department of War Senior Enlisted Leader Institutions to include the U.S. Navy Senior Enlisted Academy Class 197-Blue, U.S. Air Force Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy Class 20-B, U.S. Navy Command Master Chief / Chief of the Boat Course, and the Joint Special Operations Forces Senior Enlisted Academy Class 57. Master Chief Melleby is also a graduate of the National Defense University Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education Course Class 1302-B.

Master Chief Melleby is a native of Erial, New Jersey and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in February 2001 as a member of boot camp company J-159. Prior to enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard, Master Chief Melleby also served in the U.S. Army from 1997-2000, serving as a combat arms solider for the “Big Red One,” Charlie Battery 4th Battalion 3rd Air Defense Artillery, Fort Riley, KS.

Oceania District
Captain Maurice D. Murphy
Chief of Staff

Coast Guard Oceania District Chief of Staff Bio - CAPT Maurice D. MurphyCaptain Murphy assumed the duties of Chief of Staff for the Oceania District in June 2026. His previous assignment was Commanding Officer, Air Station Barbers Point. Prior to Air Station Barbers Point he was assigned as Chief of the Coast Guard’s Office of Search and Rescue at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In this role he was responsible for oversight of the nation’s Search and Rescue System, providing guidance to federal agencies and states, leading the National Search and Rescue Committee, and representing the United States at international aeronautical and maritime response organizations.

A 2002 graduate of Naval Flight School in Pensacola, Florida, Captain Murphy has earned designations as an Instructor Pilot, Flight Examiner, and Alaska Qualified Aircraft Commander. His aviation assignments include Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Sector San Diego, California, Air Station Sitka, Alaska as Operations Officer, and Air Station Clearwater, Florida as Executive Officer. Captain Murphy also completed tours of duty as a Student Engineer on the USCG Cutter MUNRO in Alameda, California and as a Mathematics Instructor at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. At the Academy, he enjoyed serving as a Coastal Sail Training Leadership Instructor and advisor to the class of 2012.

Captain Murphy holds a Master of Science in Operations Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a member of the United States Coast Guard Academy’s class of 1999. His personal decorations include the Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal with one gold star, the Coast Guard Commendation Medal with two gold stars, and the Coast Guard Achievement Medal with three gold stars.

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Lieutenant Commander Saejeong I. Kim
District Chaplain

Oceania District Chaplain Photo - LCDR Saejeong I. KimLieutenant Commander Saejeong Kim reported as the United States Coast Guard Oceania District Chaplain in March 2026, leading the religious ministry for all Coast Guard personnel in the central Pacific, western Pacific, and Oceania regions.

Born in Chicago and raised in South Korea, LCDR Kim initiated her monastic training in 1998 and was ordained as a Won-Buddhist Priest in 2006. Her academic credentials include a Bachelor of Arts in 2004 and Doctor of Philosophy in 2016 from Won Kwang University, with doctoral research focused on mindfulness in Won Buddhism with special reference to mindfulness-based stress reduction, alongside a Master of Art in Won Buddhism from the Won Institute of Graduate Studies in 2006.

Prior to her 2018 active-duty commission, she served as a Won-Buddhist priest at the temple in Chapel Hill, North Carolina from 2007 to 2011, at the international retreat center in South Korea from 2012 to 2015, and at the temple in Los Angeles, California from 2016 to 2018, having entered the Navy Chaplain Corps as a Reservist in 2017.

From 2018 to 2021, Chaplain Kim served as the Deputy Director for Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central, CREDO Det Bahrain, providing a wide range of resiliency training to Sailors and Marines in support of units across the 5th fleet.

From 2021 to 2023, she served as COMDESRON TWO Deputy Squadron Chaplain, managing command religious programs for seven destroyers, leading waterfront Warrior Toughness implementation, and deploying with the Gerald R. Ford Strike Group.

From 2023 to 2026, Chaplain Kim served as the regimental chaplain for Combat Logistics Regiment 3, leading religious ministry teams for four battalions, and deployed to Balikatan 23, Korean Marine Exchange Program (24.1/25.1), Resolute Dragon (23.2/24.1), and Freedom Banner (24/25).

She is a certified instructor in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Arbinger Institute’s Outward Mindset, Franklin Covey’s Speed of Trust, Mind Works’ Immunity to Change, Advanced Warrior Toughness Training, Expanded Operational Stress Control, safeTALK (Suicide Alertness for Everyone), and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training by Living Works. She completed Command and Staff College through Marine Corps University's distance learning program (Joint Professional Military Education Phase 1).

Her personal awards include three Navy Commendation Medals and Meritorious Service Medal.

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