U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 2nd Class Melissa E. McKenzie.To view and download images please visit the DVIDS gallery: (https://goo.gl/H9ilTh)
HONOLULU — Capt. Edward St. Pierre relieved Capt. William Lane as the commanding officer of USCGC Morgenthau (WHEC-722) during a change of command ceremony at Base Honolulu, Friday.
St. Pierre most recently served as director of the National Command Center in Washington, D.C. St. Pierre also served aboard five cutters, including two tours as a commanding officer. His other assignments include serving as chief of Counternarcotics and Law Enforcement Assistance Division at U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, Coast Guard senate liaison, as well as manager of resources and funds in the Office of Financial Management at Headquarters
"It is an honor to take command of Morgenthau in Hawaii and I could not ask for a more beautiful setting than Honolulu,” said St. Pierre. “I look forward to working with the local community and performing the Coast Guard’s mission wherever it may take us.”
St. Pierre’s personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, three Meritorious Service medals, three Coast Guard Commendation Medals and several unit and service awards.
He graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. He earned his MBA from Virginia Tech and a Master of Arts degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College.
Lane took command of Morgenthau in July 2014. He will next serve as chief of response for the Coast Guard 5th District in Portsmouth, Virginia.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve with the crew of cutter Morgenthau,” said Lane. “They deserve all of the credit for the unit’s accomplishments during my last two years aboard.”
The Morgenthau’s missions take the cutter to all corners of the Pacific and include defense operations, search and rescue, fisheries law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction, joint interagency task force operations, and international engagement operations. The area of responsibility encompasses more than 12.2 million square miles in the Central and Western Pacific Ocean.
Vice Adm. Charles W. Ray, commander, Pacific Area and Defense Forces West, presided over the ceremony.
The change of command ceremony is a time-honored tradition and formal ritual conducted before the assembled company of a command to confirm to the men and women of the unit that the authority of command is maintained. The ceremony is a transfer of total responsibility, authority and accountability from one individual to another.