SAUGERTIES, N.Y. – U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Justin L. Kaczynski relieved Senior Chief Petty Officer Jason L. Cross, the former commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Wire, during a change of command ceremony in Saugerties, New York, Friday.
Capt. Gordon Loebl, the commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector New York, was the presiding official over the ceremony.
Cutter Wire was built by Barbour Boatworks, New Bern, NC and commissioned in 1963. Wire was the twelfth hull built in the Harbor Tug Class. Originally homeported at Governor’s Island, New York until 1997, Wire shifted homeports to Staten Island, New York and then again to Saugerties, New York.
Cutter Wire has since served the First Coast Guard District, patrolling the waters of New York along the Hudson River from New York City north to Troy. The cutter’s primary missions include Domestic Icebreaking, Port Security, Search and Rescue, Aids to Navigation, and Maritime Law Enforcement.
The change of command ceremony is a time-honored tradition, which formally restates to the crew that the continuity of the authority of command will be maintained. It is a formal ritual conducted before the assembled company of the command.
The change of command is unique in that it is a transfer of total responsibility, authority, and accountability from one individual to another.