In June, while sailing in the Gulf of Aden, Capt. René-Jean Crignola, Commander of Combined Task Force 150 (CCTF-150), held a national change of command ceremony aboard the French replenishment oiler FS Var, flag vessel of the Task Force.
During this ceremony at sea, Commander (Cdr) Patrick de Sevin relieved Cder Jean-Yves Martin as FS Var new Commanding Officer.
Capt. Patrick de Sevin is taking Var’s command in a particularly intense moment for the crew, who has been deployed in CTF-150 Maritime Security Operations for about three months now. The ship is also hosting the Task Force’s staff, enabling its members to get accurate maritime situational awareness, being at the heart of operations. This is relatively uncommon, as the other nations are usually commanding ashore, from the coalition headquarters in Bahrain.
The new Commanding Officer, who was previously assigned on various French Battleships (Air-Defence frigate, Aviso, Anti-submarine frigate, etc.), will now be in charge of an auxiliary ship which can conduct two kinds of missions: as a supply ship, she can provide logistic support for French and allied carrier or battle groups; as a flagship, she can embark a Commander and his staff.
France is currently assuming command of the Task Force for the ninth time since its launch in 2001 to fight terrorism.
CTF-150 is a multinational maritime task force command of which is rotated between participatory nations on a four to six month basis.
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Image: CMF