LOS ANGELES — Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles will host a change of command ceremony at Base Los Angeles-Long Beach, Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Capt. Jennifer F. Williams will be relieved by Capt. Charlene L. Downey as commander of Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach during the ceremony.
Downey’s previous assignment was as the Deputy Sector Commander of Los Angeles-Long Beach. Her operational assignments include Deck Watch Officer, aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Northland, homeported in Portsmouth, Va., Deputy Group Commander, Group Hampton Roads, Va., Group Commander, Group Cape Hatteras, N.C., and upon the creation of Sectors, she transitioned to the role of Response Department Head at Sector North Carolina and Commanding Officer, Maritime Safety and Security Team Los Angeles-Long Beach. Downey has also served as the aide to the Fifth Coast Guard District Commander, an instructor at Officer Candidate School, an assignment officer for the Coast Guard Personnel Command and Chief of Officer Boards, Promotions, and Separations Branch, Personnel Service Center. She also served as the Coast Guard Executive Fellow at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica.
Downey, a native of Fort Wingate, N.M., is a 1989 graduate of the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I., and graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in management. She received her Master in Science in Management (HRM) from the Florida Institute of Technology in 2000 and earned her Human Resources Certificate from George Mason University in 2003.
Upon transfer from Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, Williams will return to Coast Guard Headquarters where she will serve as the Office Chief for Commercial Vessel Compliance and oversee standards and policies related to domestic and foreign flagged fishing vessels, passenger and cruise ships, and cargo vessels.
From command offices on Terminal Island in San Pedro, Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach coordinates operations in an area of responsibility stretching more than 350 miles along the California coast, from north of Morro Bay and south to San Clemente, out to 200 miles offshore, and includes the nation’s largest port complex. The Sector oversees four patrol boats, three multi-mission small boat stations, a marine safety detachment, a vessel traffic system and an aids-to-navigation team.
The change of command ceremony is a time-honored event preserved by the rich heritage of naval tradition. It is a custom that is formal and follows military protocol and is designed to strengthen the respect for the continuity of command that is vital to military organization. The culmination of the ceremony is reached when both officers read their orders, face one another, salute and transfer responsibility for the command. This provides the entire command with the knowledge that the officer, directed by proper authority, is taking command and provides an opportunity to witness this transfer of responsibility.
Editor’s note: Media interested in attending should contact the Public Affairs Detachment at (310) 781-0619 by 1 p.m. Monday June 20, 2016.