Captain Frederick Riedlin 

As the Chief of the Office of Aviation Forces (CG-711), Captain Riedlin is the Chief Pilot for the United States Coast Guard and leads an aviation workforce of 4900 personnel flying 200 aircraft located at 32 facilities throughout the United States including Alaska and Hawaii.  He and his staff provide aviation capability in the form of resources, doctrine, oversight, and training programs to support safe and effective execution of all 11 of the Coast Guard’s statutory missions.  He most recently served as the Commanding Officer of Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, where he was responsible for all aviation operations in the Coast Guard’s 14th District, an AOR that covers over 12.2M square miles, including the Hawaiian Islands and the South Pacific.

Captain Riedlin has served in a variety of operational and staff assignments during his career, including as Executive Assistant for the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate, where he assisted with the $29B recapitalization of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, aviation assets, and C4ISR systems.  He has served at Air Station San Francisco, Air Station Kodiak, and was the Assistant Aviation Engineering Officer at Air Station Sitka, and Aviation Engineering Officer at Group Astoria. Captain Riedlin served as the MH-60J Product Line Manager at the Aviation Logistic Center, where he led the design, construction, and testing of the Coast Guard’s first ever all glass cockpit helicopter, the MH-60T. He later served as the Aviation Engineering Officer and Executive Officer of Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii. Following his tour in Hawaii, Captain Riedlin served as the Commanding Officer of Air Station New Orleans. During this tour, he led critical aviation surge operations following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and oversaw more than 500 Search and Rescue cases.

Captain Riedlin has flown over 5300 hours in three different Coast Guard aircraft. He has qualified in the C130H, served as an Instructor Pilot in the MH-60J, an Aircraft Commander in the MH-65C, and was one of the original Design, Test and Evaluation pilots for the MH-60T. 

Captain Riedlin is a 1990 graduate from the Coast Guard’s Officer Candidate School in Yorktown, VA. His education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Hampden-Sydney College, a Master of Science Degree in Industrial Administration from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, the Air Force Command and Staff College, the Depot Arsenal Executive Leadership Program from University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and a Master of Science Degree in National Resource Strategy with a concentration in Supply Chain Management from the Eisenhower School at the National Defense University. 

His personal awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross (2), Meritorious Service Medal (5), Coast Guard Commendation Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal (3), Coast Guard Letter of Commendation (4), along with various team and unit awards. 

Captain Riedlin and his wife, Michele, have four children, John (22), Nicholas (21), Sarah (18), and Elizabeth (16).  Captain Riedlin’s son Nicholas is a recent addition to the Coast Guard’s active duty ranks and is serving as a member of the Coast Guard’s Honor Guard.

Captain John A. Williams

As Deputy Chief of the Office of Aviation Resources (CG711), Captain Williams is responsible for the management of all Coast Guard aviation’s current and strategic programs for Rotary-Wing (RW), Fixed-Wing (FW), and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to include personnel, training, facilities, and policies.  He holds FAA Commercial Pilot licenses/certificates for FW, RW, and remote UAS airframes.

Captain Williams has successfully served in a plethora of roles across the Coast Guard. Following graduation, in 1995 he started his career at the Coast Guard Academy, as a waterfront Ensign. From there he was stationed aboard the USCGC POLAR SEA (WHEC-716) home ported in Seattle, WA as a Deck Watch Officer from the fall of 1995 to the summer of 1997. During this stint, he traveled from Seattle to Antarctica and back two times and to high Arctic latitudes across the open ocean and breaking heavy sea-ice. In 1998 he went on to attended flight school aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, FL earning his “Wings of Gold”. After flight school, Captain Williams was assigned to Group/Air Station Atlantic City, NJ where he flew HH-65A & HH-65B helicopters and earned designation Aircraft Commander.  While there, he deployed aboard Coast Guard Cutters for Operation Sail 2000 and to the Caribbean Sea conducting counter-narcotics and migrant interdiction patrols. In 2003, He was transferred to Air Station Barbers Point, HI. While there, he was selected for Aviation Flight Safety Officer and completed the U.S. Navy Post Graduate School’s qualification course. During this assignment, he flew the HH-65A, HH-65B, and HH-65C as an Aircraft Commander, Instructor Pilot, and Flight Examiner. From 2007 to 2011, he was stationed at the Aviation Training Center Mobile, AL as a Fleet Standardization Instructor Pilot and Flight Examiner.  During this tour, he was an integral member of integrated project teams that completed design, buildup, and fielding of the MH-65D.  He completed Standardization Evaluations of seven H-65 Air Stations, flew the HH-65C and MH-65C, and was the first operational pilot to fly the MH-65D. In 2011, he was assigned to Coast Guard Headquarters Washington DC in the Office of Aviation Forces (CG-711) as the H-65 platform manager. There he oversaw all program level management for the H-65 fleet with a program of record of 102 aircraft spread across 20 units. In 2012, Captain Williams fleeted up to the Rotary-Wing and Special Missions Division Chief position. There he was responsible for the H-65 fleet, H-60 fleet, unmanned aircraft, rotary wing air intercept, aviation use of force, shipboard helicopter, and rescue swimmer programs. In 2014, Captain Williams received orders to Air Station Savannah, GA as the Operations Officer, where he fleeted up to Executive Officer In 2016. In 2017, Captain Williams again executed orders to USCG Headquarters, this time to fill the role of Aviation Resources Division Chief (CG-7111). In 2018, he fleeted up to his current position, Deputy Chief of the Office of Aviation Resources (CG711).

Captain Williams was born into the Coast Guard, the son of Electronics Technician Second Class P. J. Williams in Cape May, NJ in 1972.  He grew up aboard various Coast Guard installations to include: Jupiter, Florida; Governors Island, New York; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Erie, Pennsylvania. After 18 years as a Coast Guard dependent, he was accepted into the Naval Academy Preparatory School, graduating in 1991 and earned admission to the Coast Guard Academy where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Math and Computer Science in 1995. He later went on to earn his Master’s in Aeronautical Science degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 2008. Captain Williams’ aviation accolades include over 3700 hours of flight experience, qualified in all 5 current H-65 model aircraft, and over 24 years of active duty service.

His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (2), Coast Guard Commendation Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal (2), Coast Guard Letter of Commendation, Artic Service, and Antarctica Service (2). 

Captain Williams and his wife, Marci, reside in Fairfax Station, VA and have two children, Luke (18), and Hannah (16).