PORT ANGELES — Two local Coast Guard Cutter skippers didn’t have to travel far to take on their new assignments.
On Friday, Master Chief Boatswains Mate Dale Steinmetz, 43, and Master Chief Boatswains Mate Edward Butz, 42, the officers in charge of the 87-foot cutters Osprey and Wahoo, traded crews and boats as part of a change of command ceremony at Group Port Angeles.
Steinmetz will take command of the Wahoo, which is based in Port Angeles, and Butz will take over the Osprey, based in Port Townsend.
“Instead of sending them across the country, we just swapped them,” said Capt. Mark D’Andrea, commander of Group Port Angeles.
The group is responsible for homeland security, escorts and search and rescue missions on the northwest coast of Washington, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, up into the San Juan Islands and down into the Puget Sound.
Two-year rotations
Cutter commanders rotate boats about every two years, D’Andrea said, to keep a fresh perspective at the helm.
“This keeps a lot of expertise in the Puget Sound area,” he said.