CHARLESTON, S.C. – The 378-foot Coast Guard Cutter Dallas will welcome a new commanding officer during a change of command ceremony at Detyens Shipyard in North Charleston Thursday.
Capt. Michael A. Giglio assumes command from Capt. Robert P. Wagner as the commanding officer of the Dallas in a time-honored ceremony that formally transfers authority and accountability from one individual to another.
Capt. Wagner will transfer to Coast Guard Atlantic Area in Portsmouth, Va., where he will serve as chief of the resource management division. Wagner’s tenure onboard Dallas included a historic deployment to the Black Sea where the crew of the Dallas delivered humanitarian supplies to Batumi, Georgia during that country’s conflict with the Russian Federation last year
Capt. Giglio reports from Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he was chief of the office of law enforcement. During his tour, he oversaw the development of policy and program requirements for the Coast Guard’s counter-drug, illegal immigration and fisheries enforcement programs.
The change of command ceremony is a formal ritual, conducted before the assembled company of the command. It conveys to the officers and enlisted personnel 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. Due to Dallas’ presence in the shipyard, the ceremony will not be open to the public.
Cutter Dallas has a crew of 177 active-duty personnel who carry out homeland security, search and rescue, and law enforcement missions throughout the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.