Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Brigitte Johnston | GREAT LAKES, Ill. (Oct. 17, 2023) Capt. Jason Williamson, outgoing commanding officer,...... read more read more
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GREAT LAKES, Ill. – Capt. Steve Yargosz relieved Capt. Jason Williamson as Commanding Officer of Naval Station Great Lakes during a change of command ceremony on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 17. The ceremony took place aboard the installation at the Seamanship Trainer on the mainside of the installation. Rear Adm. Wesley McCall, Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, served as the guest speaker.
“Events like today and many others along the way in our Navy journey are the glue that bonds us all together,” McCall noted in his remarks.
Williamson served as Naval Station Great Lakes Commanding Officer from May 2021 to October 2023.
As commanding officer, Williamson inspired the command to execute critical services that ensured the uninterrupted annual training of 39,000 recruits to Sailors and the training of 15,000 enlisted surface warfare specialists in direct support of the Navy’s directive to maintain and protect the Navy’s accessions supply chain.
McCall awarded Williamson the Legion of Merit for Williamson’s leadership during three years at the helm of the installation and his 25 years of honorable and dedicated service to the nation.
“During my career, I have been fortunate enough to be part of many highly functional organizations… I learned a lot from those tours,” said Williamson. “Truly, I learned the most in this tour. This team is the best that I’ve had.”
“In his time here, over 100,000 Sailors graduated from boot camp. That’s about 40 percent of our warfighting force in enlisted service,” said Yargosz, in appreciation of his predecessor as Naval Station Great Lakes commanding officer.
Williamson is a native of Yankton, South Dakota. He graduated from Boston University in May 1998 with a degree in BioMedical Engineering and was commissioned through the ROTC program. He was designated a Naval aviator in June 2000.
His assignments at sea have spanned both coasts, serving operational flying tours with the P-3C Orion and the P-8A Poseidon squadrons. He has logged over 2700 hours in multiple fixed wing aircraft in support of the Maritime Patrol missions.
Additionally, he served afloat on the crew of the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). Highlights include time with the “Fighting Marlins” of Patrol Squadron Forty (VP-40) from 2000-2004, the “Fighting Tigers” of Patrol Squadron Eight (VP-8) as a Department Head from 2009-2011 and command of the “World
Famous Pelicans” of Patrol Squadron Forty Five (VP-45) during the P-8’s maiden deployment to SIXTH Fleet in 2016.
Ashore, he has served as instructor pilot with the “Pro’s Nest” of Patrol Squadron Thirty (VP-30), as Deputy Executive Assistant to the Director, Air Warfare (OPNAV N98) and as the MQ-4C Triton Requirements Officer on the Staff of the Chief of Naval Operations. He most recently served as Deputy Commander of Task Force SEVEN TWO (CTF-72) in Misawa, Japan.
Yargosz is a native of North Webster, Indiana and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 1998. He commissioned through Officer Candidate School and completed Aviation Maintenance Duty Officer training in 1999.
Operationally, Captain Yargosz served in Fighter Squadron (VF) 143 as a Material Control Officer deploying on USS Dwight D Eisenhower (CVN-69) and USS John F Kennedy (CV-67) in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In December 2002, he was selected for lateral transfer/resignation and completed flight school in October 2004. Following flight school, he served with Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (HS) 4 deploying three times with the Black Knights onboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). As a department head with the Red Wolves of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 84, he deployed four times to Iraq where he flew over 120 combat missions in support of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula. As Commanding Officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 9 he led the Tridents through multiple Fleet Replenishment and Training Squadron carrier landing qualification support detachments, as well as detachments to fleet week in New York, exercise JADED THUNDER 19, and Hurricane Dorian Bahamas disaster relief. Following command, he served as Navigator for USS George Washington (CVN-73) during the ships midlife Refueling and Complex Overhaul.
Ashore, Captain Yargosz was a student at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Quantico, Virginia where he completed JPME Phase I and received a Master in Military Science. He served as a policy analyst focused on United Nations and European drug policy while at the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), Executive Office of the President, in Washington, D.C. from July 2014 to January 2017. He completed JPME Phase II at the Joint Forces Staff College in 2020.
“I appreciate your support coming here,” Yargosz told the assembled Naval Station staff and tenant command commanding officers, executive officers and command master chiefs.
As the "Quarterdeck of the Navy,” Naval Station Great Lakes enables and sustains Fleet, Fighter and Family by providing superior, integrated Base Operating Support to over 50 tenant commands, including Recruit Training Command, the Navy's only boot camp. Naval Station Great Lakes is also home to 80 percent of the Navy's surface warfare specialty training. Naval Station Great Lakes is the largest military installation in Illinois and the largest training station in the Navy. The installation includes 1,153 buildings with 39 on the National Register of Historic Places. Naval Station Great Lakes sits on 1,900 acres and uses 50 miles of roadway to provide access to the station’s facilities.
For additional information on the event, media should contact John Sheppard, Public Affairs Officer, 847-688-2430, ext. 359, or email nsgl-pao@us.navy.mil.
Photos and video of the event are available on the installation’s news page at https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/NSGLPA.
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.17.2023 15:42 |
| Story ID: | 455999 |
| Location: | GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US |
| Hometown: | NORTH WEBSTER, INDIANA, US |
| Hometown: | YANKTON, SOUTH DAKOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 459 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Naval Station Great Lakes
