ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., — Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater crewmembers held a change of command ceremony at the air station Thursday.
Capt. Richard E. Lorenzen relieved Capt. John Turner as the station’s commander during the ceremony. A military unit’s change of command is the transfer of total responsibility, authority and accountability from one individual to another.
Rear Adm. John H. Korn, commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District, presided over the ceremony, where local, state and federal dignitaries were in attendance.
“My tour at Air Station Clearwater has been one of the most exciting and rewarding of my career,” said Turner. “Our aircrews perform lifesaving missions and combat illegal drug and migrant activity daily throughout the waters of the southeast U.S. and the Caribbean.”
During Turner’s command his crew saved more than 700 lives, interdicted 1,700 undocumented migrants, and seized more than 25,000 pounds of cocaine and 12,000 pounds of marijuana.
Turner will be reporting to the Seventh Coast Guard District in Miami to serve as chief of the Resource Management division. Lorenzen reports from Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he served as executive assistant to the assistant commandant for acquisition since 2011.
“The past week alone illustrates the air station’s ‘anytime, anywhere’ motto as one of our HC-130 Hercules crews located and assisted in the rescue of nine people lost at sea for three days off the coast of Honduras, and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew rescued three people in the Bahamas when their vessel broke down in choppy seas,” said Turner.
The air station’s area of responsibility covers more than 1.8 million square miles, including all of Florida, the Bahamas, and most of Northern Caribbean. The station’s crew conducts search and rescue, marine environmental protection, marine safety and maritime security operations while also providing logistical support and operational control for Coast Guard units conducting maritime law enforcement missions.
“I am both honored and humbled to return to my favorite unit to serve as commanding officer,” said Lorenzen. “My family and I have deep roots in the local community and look forward to renewing old bonds and establishing new partnerships with local military, government and civic leaders.”
Pictures from the ceremony can be viewed at the Coast Guard News Flickr page.
Coast Guard Capt. John Turner, commanding officer of Air Station Clearwater, speaks to a crowd during a change of command ceremony at the air station Thursday, July 11, 2013. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael De Nyse)
