Office of Aviation Forces (CG-711)

Captain Andrew W. Eriks 

As the Chief of the Office of Aviation Forces, Captain Andrew W. Eriks is the Chief Pilot for the United States Coast Guard and leads an aviation workforce of 4,900 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. CAPT Eriks 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 12.2 million square miles, including the Hawaiian Islands and the South Pacific.

CAPT. 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. From 2016-2018, he returned to Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington DC, and worked 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 and Business 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 six Meritorious Service Medals, two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, three Coast Guard Achievement Medals, three Good Conduct Medals, and two National Defense Service Medals.

CAPT Eriks has two adult children Karalee and Blake.

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).