Captain Woodring is the Deputy Commander for Sector Houston-Galveston.  His area of responsibility extends from the Lake Charles, Louisiana to Matagorda, Texas and includes seven major ports including Houston, the largest petrochemical complex in the nation.  He is responsible for 15 Coast Guard units and over 1,600 personnel.  He is currently designated by DHS Secretary Chertoff as the Deputy Principal Federal Official (PFO) for Mid-Atlantic Region Hurricane Response.

Captain Woodring arrived in Houston in June of 2006 from an assignment in Alaska as the Chief of Law Enforcement for the Seventeenth District.  He has over 24 years of experience in Coast Guard operations, serving in a variety of assignments onboard cutters and at shore commands.

A 1983 graduate of Brown University, he was commissioned as an Ensign in 1984 after completing the Coast Guard’s Officer Candidate School.  He also holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Cornell University.