PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – The 210-foot Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant is scheduled to hold a change of command ceremony at Coast Guard Station Port Canaveral Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Cmdr. Brian E. Fiedler will relieve Capt. Caleb Corson as commanding officer of Vigilant.
Fiedler, a native of Long Island, N.Y., most recently served as liaison officer at Afloat Training Group Pacific, San Diego, where he was responsible for the administration of the training and readiness programs for the Pacific Area Major Cutter Fleet. In addition, Fiedler served as director of the Navy’s Topside Warfare Department.
The Vigilant was commissioned October 3, 1964. Vigilant’s primary missions are counter-drug and alien migrant interdiction. Since being commissioned, the crew of the Vigilant has seized more than a quarter of a million pounds of marijuana and cocaine.
While serving as Vigilant’s commanding officer, Corson led the crew to intercept 742 Cuban, Haitian and Dominican migrants while enforcing U.S. maritime law.
Corson will report to Coast Guard Headquarters where he will serve as executive assistant to the director of Coast Guard Intelligence and Investigations.
The change of command ceremony is a time-honored tradition preserved by the rich heritage of naval tradition. It is a formal and impressive custom, designed to strengthen the respect for authority that 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.
