CAPE MAY, N.J. – Cmdr. Laura M. Dickey relieved Capt. David S. Klipp Thursday as commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Dependable during a ceremony held on the pier at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May.
Klipp was a 1980 graduate of Trinity High School and is a native of California. He served as the Dependable’s commanding officer since July of 2005. During his tour, Klipp conducted more than 193 maritime law enforcement boardings, seizing over $32,000 in illegal catches and halting the unlawful operation of eight fishing vessels. As task unit commander in three districts, the crew of Dependable coordinated the response of more than 50 units and interdicted 220 migrants and two smugglers. As onscene commander, Klipp coordinated the response to 14 search and rescue cases, saving nine lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars in property.
Klipp’s next assignment is to serve as chief of the incident management branch at the Thirteenth Coast Guard District in Seattle.
Dickey, a native of North Carolina, now the ship’s 20th commanding officer, comes to the Dependable from the Cutter Dallas in Charleston, S.C., where she served as the cutter’s executive officer. She also served as executive officer aboard Cutter Key Largo and executive officer of Patrol Forces Southwest Asia in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Other assignments include operations officer aboard Cutter Madrona and commanding officer of Cutter Chinocoteague. Dickey earned her Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina in 2002 and served as a courts-martial prosecutor at the Navy Trial Service Office in Norfolk, Va.
The Dependable is one of two 210-foot medium endurance cutters based in Cape May.
Capt. Steven H. Ratti, chief of staff for the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area presided over the ceremony. Ratti is second in command for all Coast Guard activities within the eastern half of the world, ranging from the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf.
