Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Botts | Cmdr. Eric Kirlin, from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, salutes the sideboys with his wife,...... read more read more
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Naval Ocean Processing Facility, Dam Neck (NOPF DN) conducted a change of command ceremony at the Dam Neck Naval Base, Virginia, March 4.
Cmdr. Kenneth Myrick, from Stringer, Mississippi, relieved Cmdr. Eric Kirlin, from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, as NOPF DN’s commanding officer during the ceremony, which was held at the Dam Neck Annex Chapel.
“When I arrived in March of 2019, I made it clear to the team that my priorities were one, the people, two, training, and three, everything else,” said Kirlin. “Because if you get one and two right, everything else will fall into place.”
Under Kirlin’s command, NOPF DN successfully integrated three new capabilities; surveillance towed array sensor system-expeditionary, non-traditional acoustic communication, and deployables, with no additional manning and limited doctrine. NOPF DN won the 2021 Battle Efficiency (“E”) Award for attaining the highest overall readiness to carry out their wartime tasks for the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) mission.
“To the NOPF DN as a whole,” said Kirlin. “Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the command and mission. You stand the watch and the duty, and you provide the critical data that has an immense impact on our national security.”
Kirlin is retiring after 21 years of honorable service and looks forward to spending more time with his family.
Capt. Jesse Zimbauer, commanding officer of the Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729) (Gold Crew), was the guest speaker at the ceremony.
“What [Kirlin] realizes is when you make it about the team, when you create an environment of dignity and support… when you recognize and build the talent in others… you can accomplish any task,” said Zimbauer. “You don’t have to be an expert, at least not right away, in underwater surveillance. What you have to do is recognize and amplify the talent around you. This is too rare a talent, and Eric has it in spades.”
Myrick was the executive officer of NOPF DN and is taking command as a fleet up promotion.
“It has been my pleasure to serve as your executive officer for the last 20 months and it is truly the honor of a lifetime and the highlight of my career to now serve as your commanding officer,” said Myrick. “My promise to you is that we will continue to build on the trust we have developed.”
NOPF DN is one of three components for the IUSS mission within Commander, Undersea Surveillance, providing accurate anti-submarine warfare reporting and cueing to operating forces, and conducting continuous maritime surveillance for homeland security in the Pacific.
| Date Taken: | 03.04.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.08.2022 21:16 |
| Story ID: | 416063 |
| Location: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | DOYLESTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Hometown: | STRINGER, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 714 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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