Cutter Crew Welcomes New Commanding Officer

The Coast Guard Cutter Shamal is scheduled to hold a formal change of command ceremony at Naval Station Pascagoula. Lt. Cmdr. Lee Petty will relieve Lt. Cmdr. Joe Raymond as Commanding Officer of Coast Guard Cutter Shamal. Lt. Cmdr. Petty reports to the cutter Shamal from Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he served as a program analyst in the Office of Mission Analysis in the Policy and Planning Directorate. Upon his relief, Lt. Cmdr. Raymond and his family will be moving to Washington, D.C., where he will be assigned as the Coast Guard Military Advisor to the Director of Net Assessments within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Capt. Eric Brown, Chief of Major Cutter Forces for Coast Guard Atlantic Area, will serve as the presiding official. Lt. Cmdr. Raymond established the Shamal pre-commissioning detachment in August 2004 and then took command of Shamal upon transfer from the U.S. Navy in September 2004. During Raymond's two-year tenure, the cutter Shamal seized 2,090 pound of marijuana and 2,030 pounds of cocaine, interdicted 227 illegal migrants, conducted numerous search and rescue cases, and played an important role in the Coast Guard's extraordinary response to Hurricane Katrina. Shamal is a 179-foot Cyclone Class Patrol Coastal that was originally built for the U.S. Navy to support Naval Special Operations. Shamal was transferred from the U.S. Navy to the U.S. Coast Guard on September 29, 2004, and moved to Pascagoula, Miss. Shamal is stationed at Naval Station Pascagoula along with Coast Guard Cutters Decisive, Tempest, and Tornado as well as Coast Guard Station Pascagoula.