CLEARWATER, Fla — Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater crew members held a change of command ceremony on Wednesday.
Capt. Scott Phy relieved Capt. Joseph McGilley as the commanding officer, the Coasrt Guard said in a news release.
McGilley is transferring to Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington D.C. as the Coast Guard's chief of aeronautical engineering, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. He served four staff assignments and six operational positions.
A military unit's change of command is a tradition that represents a formal transfer of total responsibility, authority and accountability from one person to another.
"It has been an honor and privilege to live with and serve the community of the Tampa Bay area and beyond,” McGilley stated in a news release. “I know Capt. Phy will do well as he has an amazing crew to work with him during his tenure.”
Capt. Phy was last on a joint assignment with the U.S. Air Force's Special Operations Command where he served as the senior Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard liaison to the Special Operations Command.
Before that, Phy called Clearwater home. He was previously assigned at Air Station Clearwater as the operations officer in 2014 and went on to become the executive officer from 2016 to 2018.
Phy's wife, Lisa, and two children attended Wednesday's change of command ceremony, the news release mentioned.
Air Station Clearwater is the Coast Guard's largest and busiest air station, handling missions from across the Southeast, Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America.
