Deputy Adam Robb, who has been a marine deputy for the Baker County Sheriff's Office for 20 years, recently earned his captain's license through the U.S. Coast Guard and Oregon State Marine Board.

Adam Robb’s official title is marine deputy, but you could call him captain.

The U.S. Coast Guard does.

Robb, who has been a marine deputy with the Baker County Sheriff’s Office for 20 years, patrolling waterways such as Brownlee, Oxbow and Hells Canyon reservoirs, recently received his captain’s license.

Or, to use the bureaucratic term, his U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential.

Robb, who has been a marine patrol instructor for 15 of his 20 years as a deputy, said he’s one of 40 marine deputies in the state to earn the credential, and one of just two in the past year.

The Oregon State Marine Board started the captain’s license program six years ago, Robb said.

He completed more than 180 hours of classroom work, along with his practical experience as a marine deputy.

Robb said he spent much time studying at home for the five-part exam he had to pass.

His license covers vessels as large as 100 gross tons.

Although the vessels Robb deals with during his Baker County patrols are substantially smaller — ski boats and fishing boats, for instance — he said the license, and the knowledge he gained while becoming a captain, will be valuable when he’s working elsewhere.

He said he sometimes helps other counties with patrols on the Columbia River, where much larger vessels, including barges, operate.

“It gives me a better knowledge of what larger ships can and can’t do,” Robb said.

He’s also licensed to captain such vessels if necessary.

Robb said he used to look at barges while driving on Interstate 84 along the Columbia River and wonder about them.

Now, he said, he knows much more about what the ships haul and how much they weigh.

Robb said there is great camaraderie among Oregon’s marine deputies, and he enjoys helping other counties with saturation patrols and other events.

He has worked several times during Fleet Week, part of Portland’s Rose Festival, when many large ships, including U.S. Navy vessels, travel up the Columbia and Willamette rivers and moor in Portland.

Robb said deputies he has befriended who work on those two rivers encouraged him to seek his captain’s license.