Lt. Roger Steven Todd recently retired from the U.S. Coast Guard.

He grew up in Allenhurst and enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1990. Following basic training, he was stationed at Small Boat Station Coos Bay, Oregon. There, he served as a crewman on life and rescue boats, and as communications and tower watch standers.

While there, his first son, Cory, was born, and he was assigned to Electronics Technician “A” school at Training Center Petaluma, California. Upon graduation, he was promoted to petty officer third class and attended Long Range Aids to Navigation “C” schools until December 1990.

LORAN Station Dana, Indiana, was his next station. There, he maintained 35,000-volt transmitters and a 625-foot antenna that supplied navigation signal to the maritime and aviation public.

Moving on to Station St. Simons Island, he maintained the electronics and served as a crewman on utility boats and maintained communications equipment. While on duty on Oct. 13, 1993, he witnessed the 58-year-old St. Simons boat house on Frederica River burn.

After his first four-year enlistment, Todd entered the civilian workforce as a salesman at car dealerships in Statesboro. During that time, he met and married Lydia Hood of Statesboro, and they had a son, Noah. In summer 1998, he re-enlisted and served at a string of LORAN stations ranging from Alaska to Massachusetts. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in liberal studies. After advancing to chief petty officer in 2006, he was selected for the Advanced Computer and Electronics Technology program. He earned a second Bachelor of Science, this one in industrial technology, at Elizabeth City State University. While in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, he was commissioned as chief warrant officer.

In 2009, he was assigned as commanding officer of LORAN Station Port Clarence, Alaska. Following his sixth and final LORAN tour, he became the electronics material officer at Communications Area Master Station Pacific at Point Reyes National Seashore, California. He became lieutenant while there. Finally, he was transferred to the Communications Area Master Station Product Line at Command, Control, and Communications Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 2012.

His military decorations include two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, three Coast Guard Achievement Medals, Commandant’s Letter of Commendation and several other personal and unit awards.

Todd now lives with his wife and youngest son in Camden, North Carolina. His parents, Roger and Hazel Todd, still live in Allenhurst.