USS Simpson Changes Command

Guided-missile frigate USS Simpson (FFG 56) held a change of command ceremony April 4 at Naval Station Mayport.

Cmdr. Ken Anderson relieved Cmdr. Chris Follin as commanding officer.

Anderson is “fleeting up” after being Simpson’s executive officer since November 2012 and will serve as the ship’s final commanding officer. Simpson is scheduled to be decommissioned in August 2015.

Follin came to Simpson as executive officer in April 2011 and assumed command in November 2012. His next assignment is to support the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C.

Anderson and Follin share similar career paths. Both got their start as a submariner and were commissioned via the Seaman-to-Admiral Program.

Simpson recently returned from a six-month deployment and will leave on her final deployment later this year.

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Press Release, April 7, 2014; Image: Wikimedia