CAPT Andrew W. Eriks enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1984. His previous assignments include USCGC DAUNTLESS (Miami Beach, FL), Machinery Technician “A” School (Yorktown, VA), CG Station Neah Bay, WA, USCGC BASSWOOD (Guam), Naval Engineering Support Unit Seattle, and USCGC POLAR SEA (Seattle, WA). He also completed Navy 2nd Class Dive School in Panama City, FL and served as a Coast Guard diver throughout Guam/Micronesia, Philippines, North Atlantic, and Florida.
CAPT Eriks graduated from Officer Candidate School in 1994 at Yorktown, VA. He then reported directly to Naval Flight Training, Pensacola, FL where he earned his ‘Wings of Gold’ and later transitioned to the HH-60J helicopter.
From 1995-2000, he served at Air Station Clearwater, FL and deployed extensively to the Caribbean to combat drug smuggling in support of Operation Bahamas, Turks and Caicos. He attended the Army’s H-60 Maintenance Test Pilot Course at Fort Rucker, AL and was designated an Aeronautical Engineer in 2000. From 2000-2003, he served as the Assistant Engineering Officer at Air Station Astoria and qualified as an HH-60J Instructor Pilot and Flight Examiner.
From 2005-2009, CAPT Eriks served as HC-130H/J Production Cell Overhaul Leader at the Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City, NC. He managed heavy, depot-level overhauls for 25 HC-130H/J aircraft and served as Project Officer for the Coast Guard’s first, organic HC-130 overhaul facility. CAPT Eriks also qualified as a Government Flight Representative responsible for contractor performance at three commercial fixed-wing overhaul facilities in the U.S. and Canada, was an Instructor Pilot in the MH-60J/T helicopter, and served as one of the original prototype testing and evaluation pilots for the MH-60T helicopter.
From 2009-2011, CAPT Eriks served as the Engineering Officer at Air Station Elizabeth City, NC and led the maintenance management of a fleet of four MH-60J/T helicopters and five HC-130J fixed-wing aircraft. He was instrumental in the operational introduction and transition to the Coast Guard’s newest helicopter, the MH-60T.
From 2011-2014, he served as Division Chief of the Budget Formulation and External Coordination Divisions, Office of Budget and Programs at Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, DC. He and his staff coordinated Congressional hearings, GAO/DHS Inspector audits, annual reports to Congress, and provided technical guidance to support the Coast Guard’s annual $10 billion budget requests.
From 2014-2016, CAPT Eriks served as the 40th Commanding Officer of Air Station/SFO Port Angeles.
In 2016, he returned to Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington DC, to work in the Acquisition Directorate (CG-9) as a Program Manager for the Coast Guard’s Financial Management Service Improvement Initiative. He led an extensive effort, in concert with DHS, to replace the Coast Guard’s legacy accounting systems with a new financial, procurement and asset management service.
CAPT Eriks has a Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Administration from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. He also holds a DHS Level III Acquisition certification in Program Management. His military decorations include five Meritorious Service Medals, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, three Coast Guard Achievement Medals, three Good Conduct Medals, and two National Defense Service Medals.
CDR Pototschnik graduated from Officer Candidate School in 2001 at New London, CT. He then reported to the Pacific Area / District Eleven Command Center in Alameda, CA and served as a Search and Rescue Duty Officer coordinating cases throughout an area of responsibility encompassing six of the seven continents, 71 countries, and more than 74 million square miles of ocean. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he became one of the first active duty Coast Guard members to qualify in the newly established Sea Marshal program providing port security in the Port of San Francisco. In 2003 he reported to Naval Flight Training, Pensacola, FL where he earned his ‘Wings of Gold’ and later transitioned to the HH-65B helicopter.
From 2005 – 2008, CDR Pototschnik served at Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico where he flew extensively throughout the Caribbean providing natural disaster relief and combatting drug and migrant smuggling operations. From 2008 – 2011, he served at Air Station Los Angeles, CA as the Assistant Engineering Officer and qualified as an MH-65C Instructor Pilot and Flight Examiner.
From 2013 – 2017, CDR Pototschnik served as the HC-144 Product Line Engineering Officer at the Aviation Logistics Center in Elizabeth City, NC. He accepted the Coast Guard’s final HC-144 from Seville, Spain and managed all technical, logistical and contract services supporting depot maintenance activities and a fleet of 18 HC-144 aircraft. CDR Pototschnik also oversaw two major HC-144 upgrade projects including the integration of a new cockpit avionics suite and replacement of the legacy Mission System Pallet with the Minotaur Mission System greatly enhancing aircraft operational capability.
From 2017 – 2019, CDR Pototschnik became the first Coast Guard member to be assigned to Melbourne, Australia where he served as a Program Manager and Structural Engineer with the Royal Australian Air Force and Australian Department of Defence Science and Technology Group. CDR Pototschnik established a joint services Project Arrangement for conduct of the Australian-led C-27J Structural Substantiation Program and provided technical engineering support across multiple aeronautical disciplines including: test article requirements and acquisition, aircraft usage analysis, flight loads testing and loads development, loads to stress analysis, full-scale fatigue testing and test interpretation, and fatigue and damage tolerance analysis. Results of the program will inform future Coast Guard C-27J structural lifing assessments and continuing airworthiness requirements.
CDR Pototschnik has a Bachelor of Science degree in Neurobiology and Physiology from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, four Coast Guard Achievement Medals, and various other personal and unit awards.
Master Chief Ronny W. German assumed the duties as Command Master Chief, Air Station Barbers Point on June 2nd, 2017. His primary responsibility is to advise the Commanding Officer of Air Station Barbers Point, Captain Andrew W. Eriks, on all issues and initiatives pertaining to all Coast Guard members and their families within Air Station Barbers Point. Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, is the Coast Guard aviation force provider for the Coast Guard’s 14th District, an Area Of Responsibility (AOR) that covers over 12.2 Million square miles including the Hawaiian Islands and South Pacific. The unit performs a variety of missions including search and rescue, law enforcement, defense readiness, and marine environmental response. Most recently Master Chief German served as the Command Master Chief for U.S. Coast Guard Sector Honolulu in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Master Chief German’s previous assignments include Sector Southeastern New England, as the Command Senior Chief, Sector San Diego, California as the Aviation Survival Shop Chief and MH-60J Rescue Swimmer. He previously served at Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii; Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico; and Air Station Brooklyn, New York as a duty HH-65A/B Rescue Swimmer. Master Chief German also served as a Deck Seaman and Scuba Diver aboard Coast Guard Cutter Basswood (WLB-388) home ported in Agana, Guam. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Master Chief German Enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1993 and graduated from boot camp company India-142.
Master Chief German is a proud graduate of the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Academy class CXXII, and the Coast Guard Senior Enlisted Leadership Course class 03-09. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University in Workforce Education and Development.