Meritorious Service Medal (four awards) Coast Guard Commendation Medal (two awards) Charles D. Wurster is a retired vice admiral in the United States Coast Guard who last served as the Commander, Pacific Area and Commander, Defense Force West.

He is now retired from the Coast Guard, is the President/CEO of the Port of San Diego (Jan 2009), and serves as national commodore of the Sea Scouting division of the BSA.

He received a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois in 1976 and is a 1993 graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Prior to this assignment, he served as Commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Their father, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Charles A. Wurster, was a P-51 Mustang and F-80 (P-80) pilot in the Korean War.