Capt. James Spitler, left, and Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Dioquino, formerly the top officer and top enlisted leader, respectively, at Coast Guard Sector San Diego. (U.S. Coast Guard)
The commander of Coast Guard Sector San Diego has been fired more than five months after service leaders temporarily removed the officer from his post amid an investigation into “unfair treatment of individuals” under his command.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Joseph Buzzella on Oct. 24 temporarily removed Capt. James Spitler and Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Dioquino, the sector’s top enlisted leader, citing “a loss of confidence due to failures in leadership, judgment, and integrity.”
Buzzella has now permanently dismissed Spitler and Dioquino from their posts. Spitler’s removal was made permanent on April 8. Dioquino was fired in January, the service said.
“We will not tolerate behavior that goes against our core values of honor, respect and devotion to duty,” Buzzella said in October.
Sector San Diego is part of the Eleventh Coast Guard District, which includes thousands of miles of coastal and ocean waters from California to South America and operations in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. The district is based in Alameda, Calif., on the east side of San Francisco Bay.
Capt. Patrick Dill, chief of incident management for the service’s District Eleven, has been acting commander of the San Diego sector, the service said.
The Coast Guard has said it would release no additional information on what led to the dismissal of Spitler and Dioquino. Coast Guard records show no charges have been filed against either man.
Spitler was the highest-ranking Coast Guard officer for the San Diego sector, which covers about 165,000 square miles, including 120 miles of California coastline, 750 miles of the Colorado River and the U.S.-Mexico southwest maritime border. The sector has been a focus point of increased activity since President Donald Trump took office in January and ordered a surge of military and homeland security personnel to the U.S. border with Mexico.
“The Coast Guard has surged assets and tripled the number of deployed forces — to include cutters, aircraft, and tactical teams — along the U.S. southern border and maritime approaches,” said Lt. SondraKay Kneen, a spokeswoman for District Eleven.
Coast Guard C-130 Hercules transports have flown people detained by law enforcement on suspected immigration violations from San Diego to centers in Texas overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. The destroyer USS Spruance was deployed to the area with Coast Guard law enforcement officers on board. The USS Stockdale is relieving the Spruance and carries a Coast Guard detachment.
Spitler served at U.S. Northern Command at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo., where he flew fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, according to his Coast Guard biography. He was also the commanding officer of Coast Guard Air Station Houston from 2017 to 2019. He led the Coast Guard aviation response to Hurricane Harvey in 2017, a storm that killed more than 100 people in Texas and Louisiana.
Dioquino enlisted in California in 1995, according to his official biography. Before serving in San Diego, Dioquino carried out special assignments as a regional supervisor at the Coast Guard Recruiting Command in Washington, D.C.
