USS Bataan Holds Change of Command
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS080918-19
Release Date: 9/18/2008 5:21:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Jeremy Grisham, USS Bataan Public Affairs
NORFOLK (NNS) -- USS Bataan (LHD 5) held a change of command ceremony in the ship's hangar bay Sept. 18.
Capt. Sam Howard relieved Capt. Rick Snyder as commanding officer.
"I will tell you that the greatest parting gift is that, once upon a time, I will have the privilege to say that I had command of this great ship," said Snyder. "Although I leave formally today, I will always consider myself part of Bataan."
Howard, a native of Fort Dix, N.J., became Bataan's ninth commanding officer since the ship was commissioned on Sept. 20, 1997.
He graduated from the Citadel in 1984 and received his commission through the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps. He began his career in surface warfare aboard the destroyer USS O'Bannon (DD 987). His tours of duty include assignments with USS Conolly (DD 979), Destroyer Squadron 26, USS Constitution, Naval Education and Training Center, Newport, R.I., Surface Warfare Officers School Command, Newport, and Office of the Secretary of Defense as military staff assistant for Maritime Warfare Programs.
During the ceremony, Howard described the Sailors he will lead aboard Bataan.
"I would like you all to take a look around – take a look at the sons and daughters of America," said Howard. "That is USS Bataan."
Snyder's next assignment will be at the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group in Newport.
Bataan is the fifth ship of the Navy's Wasp-class ships. She was commissioned Sept. 20, 1997, and is the second U.S. Navy warship to bear the name. CVL-29 was an Independence-class small aircraft carrier that was commissioned in November 1943. After serving in both World War II and the Korean conflict, CVL-29 was decommissioned in 1954.
For more news from USS Bataan, visit www.navy.mil/local/lhd5/.
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