BOSTON — Coast Guard Cutter Willow's crew conducted a change of command ceremony Friday at U.S. Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island.
Lt. Cmdr. Mark W. Crysler relieved Lt. Cmdr. Daniel J. Twomey as the commanding officer of Willow. Rear Adm. Linda L. Fagan, Commander, First Coast Guard District, presided over the ceremony.
“Never before have I witnessed teamwork that makes everything a unit does look so easy,” said Twomey during his remarks to his crew. “You always made everything look effortless, even though your behind-the-scenes work took many dedicated hours."
The change of command ceremony is a time-honored military tradition. It is a formal ritual conducted before the assembled company of the command. It conveys to officers and enlisted personnel of the cutter that although the authority of command is relinquished by one person and assumed by another, it is still maintained without interruption.
Coast Guard Cutter Willow is a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender homeported in Newport. The primary mission of Willow’s 42-person crew is to service short and long range aids to navigation. They are also capable of handling and assisting a variety of other missions such as maritime law enforcement, homeland security, ice breaking, environmental pollution response, and search and rescue.