Coast Guard Cutter Seneca holds change of command ceremony at Base Boston
by U.S. Coast Guard 25 May 2018 14:47 UTC
Cmdr. John J. Christensen (left), incoming Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Cutter Seneca, exchanges a salute with Captain Ted M. St. Pierre, while outgoing Cmdr. Alan B. McCabe (right) watches on during the change of command ceremony, Thursday, May 24, © U.S. Coast Guard / Lara Davis
Coast Guard Cmdr. John Christensen relieved Cmdr. Alan McCabe as the commanding officer of Coast Guard Cutter Seneca Thursday during a change of command ceremony at Coast Guard Base Boston.
Capt. Ted St. Pierre, chief of staff at Coast Guard Atlantic Area, presided over the ceremony.
"The Seneca crew embodies everything that is best about the Coast Guard and the United States: hard work, commitment and sacrifice," said McCabe. "These traits are only exceeded by their families' support to the crew members."
McCabe will report to Washington, D.C. to serve as the Coast Guard Liaison to the Senate.
Christensen was previously assigned as the executive assistant to the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Joint Task Force - East in Portsmouth, Virginia.
The change of command ceremony is a formal ritual conducted before the assembled company of the command. It conveys to officers and enlisted personnel of the cutter that although the authority of command is relinquished by one person and assumed by another, it is still maintained without interruption.
The Coast Guard Cutter Seneca is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter, with a crew complement of 100.