Command of USS Stout (DDG 55), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, officially changed hands during a ceremony May 2 at Naval Station Norfolk.
Cmdr. Andrew Fitzpatrick assumed command from Cmdr. Bob Alpigini.
Past and present crew members, friends, and family attended the time-honored change of command ceremony which concluded Alpigini’s 21-month tour as Stout commanding officer (CO). It began in September 2012, just as the ship was emerging from the shipyard and beginning the training cycle in preparation for a Ballistic Missile Defense deployment. On Stout’s 2013-2014 deployment to the Mediterranean, he led the ship through joint naval exercises and operations with NATO and allied nations.