US Coast Guard Cutter Healy recently received a new commander during a change of command ceremony at Coast Guard Base Seattle.
Capt. Jason Hamilton took command of the Cutter from Capt. John Reeves on Wednesday, June 3.
Reeves retired from his 23-year Coast Guard career upon his relief as commanding officer and will remain in Washington State.
Under Reeves’ leadership, the crew of Healy conducted two Arctic deployments and covered over 42,100 nautical miles with 10 months at sea. He and his crew aided Bureau of Ocean Energy Management researchers with the collection of benthic and pelagic specimens including the development of an ecological profile of the biologically rich and diverse Hanna Shoal region of the Chukchi Sea. He also led the search and rescue of the 41-foot sailing vessel Altan Girl, beset in shifting ice floes 40 miles northeast of Barrow, Alaska.
Hamilton is arriving from the Coast Guard 13th District Office where he served as the staff judge advocate and head of the legal department.
His previous assignments include four underway tours, including operations officer aboard the cutter Polar Star and executive officer aboard cutter Polar Sea. He is a qualified polar-class ice pilot who has participated in multiple Antarctic, Arctic and Great Lakes ice breaking missions, including the first U.S./Russian joint break-in and resupply of McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
Healy, commissioned in 2000, is the nation’s newest and largest polar icebreaker. The cutter is 420-feet long and has extensive scientific capabilities. Homeported in Seattle, the cutter has a permanent crew of 79; its primary mission is scientific support.
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Image: USCG