Coast Guard cutter Mustang changes command

THE LOG STAFF

July 03, 2008 at 1:50PM AKST

On June 13, inside the Chinooks Waterfront Restaurant, next to the large windows overlooking the harbor and a massive octopus sculpture, the Coast Guard cutter Mustang held a change of command ceremony.

Lt. James D. Stoffer was leaving to pursue duties at Afloat Training Group Pacific Northwest in Everett, Wash., and Lt. Gregory M. Haas stepped in to take command.

The ceremony featured 15 crew members, two officers and the incoming officer going through salutes, call to order, colors and an invocation.

Capt. Mark DeVries offered his remarks on the Mustang’s performance under Stoffer in which he praised him as a competent commander. Stoffer and Haas read their orders out loud, followed by Haas’ salute to Stoffer.

Stoffer then assumed leadership to Haas.

According to Sara Francis, public relations officer for the Coast Guard, the ceremony was developed centuries ago, most likely for battlefield commands, where impersonal conditions warranted officer recognition.

“It’s really for the crew of the vessel so they can formally recognize that a new form of command is being appointed,” Francis said. “It gives them a chance to say goodbye to the current command.”

The standard tour of duty on the 110-foot Mustang is two years.

“It’s a nice time to get comfortable and good at things,” she said. “More often than not they want to stay longer.”

Stoffer enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1980 and was assigned as a seaman aboard Storis in Kodiak. He worked his way up through the ranks, was promoted to lieutenant in May 2005 and has received numerous awards including the Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal, five achievement medals, five good conduct medals and three humanitarian medals.

He’s moving to Everett with his wife, Diana, and daughter, Sarah.

Haas, a 2001 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, was the past operations officer of the cutter Hickory in Homer. He’s received the Coast Guard Achievement Medal, the Commandant’s Letter of Commendation and various other honors.

He and his wife, Janice, have a young daughter, Madeleine.

The Mustang was launched in September 1986. It’s the 10th 110-foot Island Class Patrol Boat built and the first to serve in the Pacific Ocean. Two months later, it relieved the Cape Jellison as the Coast Guard’s northernmost patrol boat, stationed in Seward.

The Mustang spends approximately 150 days a year at sea conducting homeland security, federal fisheries law enforcement and search and rescue missions.

The vessel has traveled more than 12,000 miles in the past two years and is named after Mustang Island, located east of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Five additional 110-foot Island Class patrol boats are based in Alaska: The Anacapa in Petersburg, the Liberty in Juneau, the Roanoke Island in Homer, the Long Island in Valdez and the Naushon in Ketchikan.