Cmdr. Jonathan Harris relieved Capt. Anne O’Connell as commanding officer of the USCGC Campbell (WMEC 909) during a change of command ceremony, Friday, 9 June, 2023, at Naval Station Newport. Rear Adm. Laura Dickey, deputy commander of Coast Guard Atlantic Area, presided over the ceremony.
Reading over this simple news release, there are a couple of things that stood out for me.
Having graduated from the CG Academy when it was all male and nearly all white, proud to see the apparent opportunities the Coast Guard now offers to women and minorities.
Second, and the reason I am posting this is,
“Harris previously served as the USCGC Hamilton’s (WMSL 753) executive officer.”
That is the way it ought to be. You should not get command of a major cutter without having served as either a department head or XO, preferably of a major cutter.
June 9, 2023
USCGC Campbell holds change of command ceremony
NEWPORT, R.I., — U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Jonathan Harris relieved Capt. Anne O’Connell as commanding officer of the USCGC Campbell (WMEC 909) during a change of command ceremony, Friday, at Naval Station Newport.
Rear Adm. Laura Dickey, deputy commander of Coast Guard Atlantic Area, presided over the ceremony.
Harris previously served as the USCGC Hamilton’s (WMSL 753) executive officer.
“I am extremely excited to take command and look forward to serving at sea with the Campbell crew, a team who delivers outstanding mission results by saving lives and enforcing the law,” said Harris.
O’Connell served as the commanding officer of Campbell from July 2021 to June 2023. O’Connell’s next assignment will be the director of the Commandant’s Advisory Group at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The change of command ceremony marks a transfer of total responsibility and authority from one individual to another. It is a time-honored tradition to formally demonstrate the continuity of authority within a command conducted before the assembled crew and esteemed guests and dignitaries.
Campbell is a 270-foot, Famous-class medium endurance cutter. The cutter’s primary missions are counter-narcotics operations, migrant interdiction, living marine resources protection, and search and rescue in support of U.S. Coast Guard operations throughout the Western Hemisphere.
For information on how to join the U.S. Coast Guard, visit GoCoastGuard.com to learn about active duty, reserve, officer, and enlisted opportunities. Information on how to apply to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy can be found here.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
That’s generally how it works. When we see someone who is not a woman or a person of color, we do presume that they too served as either a department head or XO, don’t we? Same should apply, and I wouldn’t presume otherwise.
In the Coast Guard, it is pretty common to see officers promoted from one command to the next without ever having been a department head or XO.
Another change of command where the releaving CO has had XO experience, in this case on the same ship, 2018 to 2020.
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy holds change of command ceremony
SEATTLE — U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) and crew held a change of command ceremony, Thursday, in Seattle.
Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard, presided over the ceremony in which Capt. Michele Schallip relieved Capt. Kenneth Boda as Healy’s commanding officer.
Boda served as Healy’s commanding officer from June 2021 to June 2023. Under Boda’s command, Healy deployed twice to the Arctic region, including circumnavigating North America, and transiting to the geographic North Pole, in support of oceanographic and climate research. Hundreds of science station operations were completed in support of the Arctic Mobile Observing System and Synoptic Arctic survey, including mapping of the ocean floor, 281 Connectivity, Temperature and Depth casts, and 437 over-the-side science instrument deployments.
“As a career icebreaker sailor, the last two years aboard Healy have truly been a highlight of my time in the Coast Guard,” said Boda. “I was very fortunate to sail with such a talented crew to some of the most inaccessible and fascinating places on the planet. We conducted oceanographic research that advanced scientific understanding of the earth’s climate system, and projected United States sea power to the high Arctic.”
Schallip reports to the Healy from the Office of the Commandant. Healy will be Schallip’s fifth cutter and her third command. Her time in command will be her second tour aboard Healy, having served as the ship’s executive officer from 2018 to 2020.
Boda departs Healy to serve as the deputy of the Marine Transportation System Management Directorate.
Commissioned in 1999, Healy is one of two active icebreakers homeported in Seattle. At 420-feet long, Healy is the newest, largest, and most technologically advanced icebreaker in the Coast Guard’s fleet.