Rear Admiral John Weldon Lockwood assumed command of the Seventh Coast Guard District on May 24, 1996. Commissioned from Officer Candidate School, Yorktown, Va. in June 1963, his first assignment was as Operations Officer aboard the buoy tender USCGC Walnut in Miami Beach, Fla. Twenty months later, he fleeted up to Executive Officer of Walnut. In 1966, he took command of USCGC Point White, a patrol boat of Coast Guard Division 13, deploying from Cat Lo, Republic of Vietnam, in Operation MARKET TIME. From 1967 to 1969, he commanded Coast Guard Group Shinnecock on eastern Long Island, after which he became Commanding Officer of USCGC Juniper, St. Petersburg, Fla. from 1969-1971.
Staff assignments followed from 1971-1974, first as Assistant to the Chief of Operations and then Assistant to the Chief of Staff, Third Coast Guard District, Governors Island, N.Y. Returning to duty afloat in 1974 in 1974, he commanded USCGC Basswood, homeported in Guam, Mariana Islands and participated in Operation NEW LIFE during the Vietnam evacuation.
In August 1976, Rear Admiral Lockwood attended the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va. After graduating in January 1977, he became Coast Guard Liaison Officer to Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk. From 1978 to 1980, he commanded the high endurance cutter USCGC Taney in Portsmouth, Va.
Returning to duty ashore in July 1980, Rear Admiral Lockwood became the Coast Guard Representative to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York. During his tour as a political officer at the mission, he also served on the United States Delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. He then attended senior service college, and in June 1983, graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.
A second high endurance cutter command followed from 1983 to 1985, this time in USCGC Chase, where Rear Admiral Lockwood was engaged in Caribbean drug law enforcement, alien migrant interdiction, and the conflict in Grenada. He then reported to Coast Guard Headquarters as Chief, Enlisted Personnel Division and Senior Coast Guard Military Representative to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service (DACOWITS). From December 1986 through May 1987, as Commander, Caribbean Squadron during Operation CHECKMATE-7, Rear Admiral Lockwood led three pulses of the joint USCG/USN task unit on air and surface drug interdiction operations off Columbia and throughout the Caribbean Basin. In June 1987, he became the first permanent Caribbean Squadron Commodore, and planned and executed over 25 operations at sea with the force in the ensuing two years. Rear Admiral Lockwood then became Deputy Chief, Office of Navigation Safety and Waterway Services at Coast Guard Headquarters in July 1989, and on December 3, 1990, was designated Chief of that office. After promotion to Rear Admiral (Lower Half) in September 1991, he assumed the duties of Chief of the Office of Readiness and Reserve, and served in that position until May 1993. He was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral (Upper Half) 30 June 1994 while he was Commander, Thirteenth Coast Guard District.
Rear Admiral Lockwood's decorations include: three awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V", two Meritorious Service Medals with Operational Distinguishing Device ("O"), two Coast Guard Commendation Medals with "O", two Coast Guard Achievement Medals with "O", and the Combat Action Ribbon. He also holds eight Coast Guard and Navy Commendations and three awards of the Humanitarian Service Medal. In May 2009, Rear Admiral Lockwood was inducted into the Officer Candidate School Wall of Gallantry at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. Upon retiring as Commander of District 7 on 30 June 1997, Rear Admiral Lockwood was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
Rear Admiral Lockwood, his wife Cyndee reside in Woodinville, WA, where they breed and show top-award winning Grand Champion and Champion West Highland White Terriers in the U.S. and Canada.