CHANGE OF COMMAND SET TODAY; COAST GUARD OFFICE CHANGES LEADERSHIP

PADUCAH, Ky. - Coast Guard Commander Jack L. Buri is stepping down Friday as commanding officer of the Coast Guard marine safety office here. He will be reassigned as assistant chief of the information management division at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington.

The Paducah marine safety office has jurisdiction over the Lower Ohio River, from Paducah to Cairo, and the Mississippi River, from Cairo to a point just north of Cape Girardeau.

The MSO office investigates marine accidents and spills of toxic or hazardous materials involving towboats and barge tows. The office is also responsible for licensing and inspection of captains, pilots, mates, tankermen and engineers, and towboats, barges and other craft that operate on the inland waterways.

The change-of-command ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. today in the ballroom of the Irvin Cobb Hotel in Paducah.

Buri, who has been stationed at Paducah since 1987, will turn over the command to Commander Robert M. Segovis, currently executive officer at the Coast Guard marine safety office in Pittsburgh.

Recalling events that have occurred during his assignment at Paducah, Buri said the most vivid memory he will take with him when he leaves next week "is that of the marine (barge-towing) industry and the way this intensely competitive mode of transportation worked together in times of crisis for the benefit of all."

Buri was referring to a series of low water conditions that interrupted normal barge traffic on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers during the drought years of 1988 and 1989 and the fall of 1991.

Buri said working together in a cooperative effort never seen before, the Coast Guard, Corps of Engineers and the barge and towing industry were able to keep the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Cairo and the lower Mississippi from Cairo to Baton Rouge, La., open to traffic, which allowed vital shipments of bulk commodities to continue moving.

"I have not seen that kind of cooperation anywhere in my career, and it is a testimony to the people in the industry," Buri said. "It's a real success story. The crisis threw everybody together and showed that no one can do it on their own. Everyone on the river must work as a team."

Segovis enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1969 as an aviation electrician's mate, and has been assigned to Coast Guard air stations at Sangley Point, Republic of the Philippines; Miami, Fla.; and Washington.

Segovis graduated from the Coast Guard Officer Candidate School in Yorktown, Va., in 1975, and was commissioned an ensign. He entered the Coast Guard marine safety program with an assignment in New Orleans, followed by a tour as an instructor at the Coast Guard Marine Safety School in Yorktown.

Segovis transferred to the marine safety office in Portland, Ore., where he served as a marine inspector. From Portland, he moved to the 13th Coast Guard District office in Seattle and served as chief of the marine environmental response branch and chief of the marine licensing and inspection division. From July 1989 to his assignment as commanding officer at Paducah, Segovis has been the executive officer of the Pittsburgh MSO.

He has several decorations, including two Coast Guard Commendation Medals and two Coast Guard Achievement Medals.

Segovis is a native of Wilmington, N.C.

Buri enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1970, and later entered Officer Candidate School, where he received his commission as ensign in 1972.

After a four-year tour at Baltimore, Md., Buri was assigned to Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington as a Coast Guard liaison officer to the Army Corps of Engineers. He returned to Coast Guard headquarters in 1979 as chief of the port security division. In 1982, he was transferred to Lake Charles, La., where he served as supervisor of the marine safety detachment until coming to Paducah in 1987. Buri assumed command of the Paducah MSO on May 31, 1988.

He is a native of Chicago and a graduate of DePaul University.