Coast Guard Vice Adm. Sandra Stosz, deputy commandant of Coast Guard Force Readiness Command, oversees FORCECOM’s change-of-command ceremony at Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown, Virginia, April 20, 2017. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Auxiliarist Andrew Winz)
Cape May – Rear Adm. Keith Smith relieved Rear Adm. David Throop as Commander, Force Readiness Command, during a change-of-command ceremony, Thursday
Vice Adm. Sandra Stosz, the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support in Yorktown, Va., presided over the ceremony.
Throop has been the Commander for the Coast Guard’s Force Readiness Command for two years where he was responsible for the readiness of the Coast Guard’s more than 50,000 current active duty and reserve service members.
Throop’s next duty assignment will be as the Coast Guard’s 13th District Commander in Seattle, Wa.
A few of Throops’s notable accomplishments while stationed at FORCECOM included the reinstitution of 100% of Tuition Assistance, graduating more than 6,000 recruits from Basic Training and commissioning 479 Officer Candidates. He reduced online mandated training by 40% and implemented the first significant restructuring of Coast Guard-wide weapons training and qualification processes since the 1970s.
Smith reports to the Force Readiness Command from the Joint Interagency Task Force West, where he served as the Commander. He also has an extensive operational background with a specialty in tactical law enforcement and Port/Homeland Security Operations. During his 35-year career, he served as a Law Enforcement Detachment Officer in Charge, Commanding Officer of Tactical Law Enforcement Team North, Deputy Group Commander and plank owner Commanding Officer for Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) Los Angeles/Long Beach.
The change of command is a time-honored tradition aboard ships and shore commands. It represents a total transfer of responsibility, authority and accountability from one individual to another. The core of the event is the formal passing of command in the presence of the entire crew, leaving no doubt as to who has assumed the mantle of authority.
