BOSTON – A change of command ceremony is scheduled for the Commander of the First Coast Guard District at Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall on Friday May 14, 2010, at 10:30 a.m.
During the ceremony, Rear Adm. Daniel A. Neptun will assume responsibilities from Rear Adm. Joseph L. Nimmich as Commander of the First Coast Guard District.
Rear Adm. Neptun is joining the First Coast Guard District from the Coast Guard’s Personnel Service Center in Arlington, Va., where he managed most of the Coast Guard’s human resources field activities, from accession of new military personnel to retired members’ pay and benefits.
Rear Adm. Nimmich, First District Commander for the past year, will relinquish his command and retire from active duty after a distinguished, 33-year Coast Guard career.
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 auxiliarists 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.
The First Coast Guard District, headquartered in Boston, encompasses an area of eight states from northern New Jersey to the Maine/Canada border, including more than 2,000 miles of shoreline. In an average day, the nearly 10,000 men and women of the Department of Homeland Security’s First Coast Guard District save two lives, conduct 17 search and rescue cases, assist 20 people, and safeguard $46,633 in property at sea.
The Coast Guard in New England is tasked with maritime search and rescue and the protection of living marine resources, as well as nine other critical missions. The Coast Guard works simultaneously with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in order to meet this task and ensure compliance with all federal maritime statutes and regulations.
