BOSTON- The Coast Guard Cutter Seneca held a change of command ceremony on the pier at Base Support Unit Boston Friday June 11, 2010.
Capt. William J. Wolter was relieved by Cmdr. Charles E. Fosse as the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Seneca, a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Boston.
Wolter led the Seneca through two Northern Atlantic patrols in the First Coast Guard District, two Windward Pass patrols, a $2.8 million dry dock period and a Joint Interagency Task Force South patrol throughout the Eastern Pacific Ocean during his tenure as the Commanding Officer.
Wolter will work for Commander Atlantic Area (future CG Operations Command) as his Joint Force Maritime Component Commander Liaison (JFMCC LNO) to both the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Forces Command (FFC) and U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) in Norfolk, Va., for his next assignment,.
Cmdr. Fosse is coming to the Seneca from a tour in the White House Military Office in Washington D.C.
Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown was in attendance.
The change of command ceremony is a time-honored event preserved by the rich heritage of naval tradition. It is a formal custom, and following military protocol, designed to strengthen the respect for the continuity of command which is vital to any 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 an opportunity to witness this transfer of responsibility and know that the officer directed to take command is doing so under the proper authority.
