Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Future Cheek
Rear Adm. Keith B. Davids relieved Rear Adm. H.W. Howard III as commander, Naval Particular Warfare Command throughout a change of command ceremony at Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, Aug. 19.
Gen. Richard D. Clarke, commander, U.S. Particular Operations Command, was the presiding officer and visitor speaker of the ceremony. In his remarks, Clarke praised Howard’s management and mission focus for Naval Particular Warfare to be prepared for higher complexity and danger – and ship the substantive and transformational modifications for relevance to the Joint Pressure and Navy Fleets, survivability, and lethality in protection of the Nation.
“Wyman, you’ve led throughout a historic two years and also you’ve set this command on a tremendous trajectory,” stated Clarke. “Over the previous 12 months alone, I’ve visited SEAL groups working within the Arctic with European companions, and I only recently returned from seeing SEALs within the Indo-Pacific. Over the previous two years, Naval Particular Warfare Command has continued to experiment within the maritime area, whether or not that’s with autonomous capabilities, undersea dominance, or many different facets. You’ve reworked the elite capabilities inside this command by taking them to a brand new stage.”
“Because the Naval Particular Warfare neighborhood returns to prioritize the maritime particular operations missions that reach Joint Pressure attain into denied areas, Howard has unequivocally accelerated the strategic trajectory of our premier maritime particular operations pressure to assist our Nation compete and win in opposition to any adversary,” Clarke stated. “By way of his management, creativity, and dedication to fixing the Nation’s hardest issues, Naval Particular Warfare is able to maintain our adversaries and their crucial navy capabilities in danger. He has achieved this by means of an aggressive dedication to modernize the best way and means the pressure assesses, selects, trains, and deploys the perfect Naval Commandos ever.”
Howard assumed command of Naval Particular Warfare Command in September 2020. He centered on strengthening the pressure and Naval Particular Warfare households, commissioning a number of new element instructions, and implementing a tradition and sustainable structure for idea improvement, experimentation and steady evaluation and improvement.
“After I had the privilege to imagine command of this unbelievable group, we challenged ourselves with a deliberate, complete, and pressing transformation to fulfill new threats and create the irregular warfare choices that strengthen nationwide leverage and amplify the Nation’s built-in deterrence choices,” stated Howard. “Within the crucial to innovate for navy benefit and edge at this geo-strategic inflection level, I’m extraordinarily happy with our group an enrolled and dedicated group whose professionalism, functionality, integrity, belief, candor and customary function makes actual the brand new and distinctive missions that solely we are able to do—below, on, and above the ocean.”
The ceremony marks the top of a two-year command tour for Howard, who graduated from Fundamental Underwater Demolition/SEAL Evaluation, Choice and Coaching with Class 172. He commanded in any respect operational and element ranges of Particular Operations, together with service as commanding officer of Naval Particular Warfare Improvement Group from 2011-2013 and Particular Operation Command Central from 2018-2020. He has a number of excursions accountable for Joint Job Forces and was among the many first to deploy to Afghanistan following the assaults of September 11, 2001.
“I’m humbled to have served with our Nation’s best warriors, a few of whom made the final word sacrifice in service to our nice Nation,” stated Howard. “To our Gold Star households, for his or her sacrifice, a sacrifice too few perceive or comprehend, it’s your resilience and sacrifice that leads us and underpins our basis of honor, braveness, and dedication. We are going to proceed to honor you and our Fallen Teammates with our deeds and our actions.”
Though he was not capable of attend in-person, Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Gilday, just lately thanked Howard for his service and counseled him for making a tradition and mindset amongst the Naval Particular Warfare neighborhood that repeatedly self-assesses, corrects, and innovates.
“Naval Particular Warfare continues to enhance its lethality and warfighting readiness every single day,” stated Gilday. “Howard has been a vanguard for pushing his teammates to be extra self-assessing and extra self-correcting and whereas doing so has accelerated our Navy’s aggressive edge and maintained our Naval Particular Warfare neighborhood’s elite repute because the world’s premier maritime particular operations professionals.”
“I’m grateful for the chance to serve with the professionals in our armed forces and alongside our allies and companions,” stated Howard. “This unbelievable neighborhood of warriors, leaders, and households is a timeless and genuine group; a group that’s by no means intoxicated by success, by no means hides from failure, isn’t defeated in loss. Naval Particular Warfare is a group at all times on mission, at all times resilient, at all times accountable, with humility and stewardship, for each consequence in protection of our Nation and in service of all Individuals. The Deed is All – Not the Glory.”
Davids, a local of Miami, and 1990 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, most just lately served as commander, Particular Operations Command South, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida.
Davids expressed his gratitude to the Naval Particular Warfare Command employees for a first-class turnover week and alter of command ceremony, thanked his household for his or her unwavering love and help, and praised Howard for his warfighting imaginative and prescient and leaving him a powerful {and professional} Pressure.
“Wyman has aggressively reworked Naval Particular Warfare for the step modifications in functionality and resourcing to remain forward of our adversaries,” Davids stated on the ceremony. “The worldwide threats we face will proceed to name on the total extent of our dedication, our creativity, and our adaptability. We are going to construct on the course that Admiral Howard has set for this neighborhood.”
Over 10,000 robust, Naval Particular Warfare consists of roughly 3,000 Sea, Air, Land operators; 700 Particular Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen; 4,600 fight help and fight service help personnel, 700 reservists and 1,200 civilian teammates.
Naval Particular Warfare is dedicated to its Sailors and the deliberate improvement of their tactical excellence, ethics, and management because the Nation’s premiere maritime particular operations pressure absolutely aligned in help of the Nationwide Protection Technique. Naval Particular Warfare is the Navy’s particular operation pressure and the maritime element of U.S. Particular Operations Command, and its mission is to supply maritime particular operations forces to conduct full-spectrum operations, unilaterally or with companions, to help nationwide aims.
Supply: U. S. Navy
