HONOLULU — Coast Guard Cutter Sherman held a change of command ceremony at Coast Guard Base Honolulu, Wednesday.
Capt. Aldante Vinciguerra relieved Capt. Kevin A. Jones as commanding officer of Coast Guard Cutter Sherman. Jones will assume command of Rush, which was recently decommissioned.
Vice Adm. Charles W. Ray, Coast Guard Pacific Area commander presided over the event.
The Coast Guard Cutter Sherman, formerly assigned to San Diego, will replace Rush in Honolulu and assume Rush’s responsibilities. Rush is the sixth high endurance cutter to be decommissioned, with six remaining in service on the West Coast. These high-endurance cutters are being replaced by the more capable fleet of national security cutters, which perform critical homeland security, law enforcement and national defense missions around the world.
The Coast Guard is working with the State Department to transfer Rush to the Bangladesh Navy as part of a Foreign Military Sale through the Foreign Assistance Act.
Coast Guard Pacific Area is the Coast Guard’s regional command element and force provider for maritime safety, security, and stewardship in the Pacific. The unit’s Area of Responsibility encompasses six of the seven continents, 71 countries and more than 74 million square miles of ocean from the U.S. to Asia, and from the Arctic to Antarctica.
Bio for Vice Adm. Charles W. Ray, Pacific Area commander: http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/docs/VADM_Ray_bio.pdf