SAN DIEGO –The Coast Guard Sector San Diego welcomed a new commanding officer in a change of command ceremony, Thursday at the Coast Guard base in San Diego.
During the ceremony, which was presided over by Capt. Gwyn Johnson the acting District 11 Commander, Capt. Sean M. Mahoney assumed command responsibilities from Capt. Thomas H. Farris as commander of Sector San Diego and San Diego Captain of the Port.
After 30 years of active duty service in the Coast Guard, Farris officially retired after the change of command ceremony.
Mahoney is reporting to San Diego from Portsmouth, Va., where he was assigned as the Chief of the Fifth District Incident Management branch. There he led search and rescue and crisis management in the mid-Atlantic region.
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 company of the command. It conveys to the officers, enlisted personnel, civilian employees, and auxiliary members 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.
