CLEVELAND – The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Neah Bay held a change of command ceremony at the Coast Guard’s Cleveland Moorings facility Friday morning.
Lt. Cmdr. Molly Waters was relieved as commanding officer by Lt. Joshua Zike during the ceremony as Rear Adm. Fred M. Midgette, commander of the Coast Guard 9th District, presided.
Waters had been the commanding officer of the cutter since Aug. 2011 and is moving on to Office of Strategic Analysis at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Lt. Joshua Zike, Rear Adm. Fred M. Midgette and Lt. Cmdr. Molly Waters pose for a photo during the Coast Guard Cutter Neah Bay change-of-command ceremony held at the cutter’s homeport of Cleveland, July 25, 2014. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Lauren Laughlin.
Lt. Zike is reporting from the Audit Remediation Division within the Office of Financial Management Transformation and Compliance at Coast Guard Headquarters, where he served as a team leader of the Personal Property Audit Remediation Team.
The change of command ceremony is a time-honored tradition, which formally restates that the continuity of command will be maintained. It is a formal ritual conducted before the assembled ship’s company. It conveys to the officers, enlisted personnel, civilian employees, and auxiliarists of the Coast Guard that, although the authority of command is relinquished by one person and is assumed by another, it is still maintained without interruption.
Coast Guard Cutter Neah Bay is one of nine cutters in the Coast Guard’s 140-foot “Bay” Class. Neah Bay’s primary mission of ice breaking is to assist commercial vessels through the ice and extend the shipping season. The ship also performs ice breaking to protect lives, property and provide flood relief for the communities along the Great Lakes’ shores. Most winters, Neah Bay breaks ice in Lake Erie, Lake Huron, the Straits of Mackinac, and the St. Marys River.
