The first day of Capt. Phillip R. Thorne’s U.S. Coast Guard career was captured in a photo in Connecticut newspaper “The New London Day.”
It wasn’t a great start. During a 1987 swearing in ceremony at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, a photographer snapped a photo of Thorne. The teenager had fainted in the summer heat. “The New London Day” printed the photo under the headline “Tough Day.”
Rear Admiral Michael F. McAllister joked about the photo at Thorne’s retirement ceremony Friday at the Alaska State Museum. Part of the changing of command — the passing of command from Thorne, the outgoing Sector Juneau commander, to incoming commander, Capt. Stephen White — Thorne was honored by about 150 guests, USCG dignitaries like McAllister among them.
Thorne’s career went only in one direction since the swearing in ceremony: up.
“Heard a number of times the next day in the passageways of Chase Hall, the cadet barracks, ‘He’s never going to make it,’” McAllister said. “But I am sure that there’s some sweet justice in the fact that you are here today and we are honoring you.”
[PHOTOS: Sector Juneau Change of Command]
After a year at the helm, Thorne relinquished command of the Juneau Sector on Friday to Capt. Stephen White. The Juneau Sector, which consists of 337 active duty, civilian and auxiliary members with 10 field commands and detachments, is massive: sector personnel provide Coast Guard presence in 20 remote areas and villages, covering over 2,000 islands and 10,000 miles of shoreline.
Thorne will retire from the USCG after 12 assignments, which took him all over the U.S. He plans to stay in Alaska with his wife, Jennifer, and daughter Madeline, 8. He fell in love with the state after being assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Naushon in Ketchikan in 1997. Alaska is a place to serve with “less people, more fish,” which drew Thorne in, he said during remarks to the crowd.
Fisheries enforcement, working with fishermen to uphold sustainable fisheries law, Thorne said, was his favorite part of the work. He represented the Coast Guard at the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council at a previous USCG position.
“I see a load off in some regards. I’ve done a lot of work here, but I am really proud of the service I’ve done,” Thorne said. “Alaska is a wonderful place to serve and I am really looking forward to staying here, continuing to live and doing other things here.”
During his time on the Naushon, Thorne convinced a few other guardsmen to purchase a remote property south of Petersburg through a State of Alaska’s land auction. Thorne, who spent about half his career in Alaska, said his first order of business in retirement is a trip to the cabin he’s built, at which he plans to spend time.
In the year of Thorne’s command, McAllister said, Sector Juneau conducted 102 search and rescue missions, saving 40 lives and assisting 84 others, helping save $2 million in property. Thorne’s crews conducted 1,000 law enforcement boardings, 600 commercial fishing safety inspections, 500 cruise ship and domestic vessel inspections and responded to 293 reports of pollution.
That’s a track record White, 48, will try to keep up with, he said. The Juneau Sector’s new commander doesn’t have big changes planned yet. His focus will be on keeping the sector on the course Thorne plotted.
“Capt. Thorne, we served in a lot of the same jobs, same ships. … He’s been a great mentor and has done a great service for our country. I am honored to be able to fall in behind him, carry on the great work he has done,” White said.
Thorne oversaw the transition of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bailey Barco, Alaska’s second fast response cutter.
“It’s a dynamic time, there’s new assets coming to Alaska. … I am just excited to be here, stay here, and get to work,” White said.
After four years in the Coast Guard Academy and 27 years at watch, Thorne was “whistled ashore,” toward the end of the ceremony. Jennifer, Madeline and his mother Gloria by his side, Thorne made his way down the aisle, toward the shoreside respite of civilian life.
“If you find your photo on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow, I have no doubt it will be a little more triumphant than the photos in The New London Day 31 years ago,” McAllister said.
• Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 and kgullufsen@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @KevinGullufsen.
Capt. Phillip Thorne, outgoing Commander of Coast Guard Sector Juneau, left, shakes hands with incoming Commander Capt. Stephen White, right, as Rear Admiral Michael McAllister, Commander of the 17th Coast Guard Dirstrict, watches at the Alaska State Museum on Friday, May 4, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Change of Command and Retirement Ceremonies of Capt. Phillip Thorne, outgoing Commander of Coast Guard Sector Juneau, at the Alaska State Museum on Friday, May 4, 2018. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
