DVIDS Hub works best with JavaScript enabled

USS Howard Conducts Change of Command Ceremony

Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Alexandria Esteban | 240314-N-CV021-1088 YOKOSUKA, JAPAN (March 14, 2024) Cmdr. Eric Smitley, commander of...... read more read more

COMMANDER, FLEET ACTIVITIES YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JAPAN

03.14.2024

Courtesy Story

Commander, Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron 15

YOKOSUKA, Japan (Mar. 14, 2024) – Cmdr. Eric Smitley relieved Capt. David Huljack as commanding officer of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Howard (DDG 83) during a change of command ceremony aboard the ship, Mar. 14.

“I am proud to have been a part of the Howard team. This is Howard: 32 knot Howard. Guns up, ready to fire Howard. We are Howard and we are ready for victory,” said Huljack, a New Jersey native.

Huljack will be resuming his duties as Deputy Commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15.

“I am humbled and honored to join the team on Howard,” said Smitley. “Howard Sailors are top-tier warfighters with a winning mindset. We will continue to deliver power for peace, while remaining postured and ready to fight and win as part of the Joint Force and alongside our Allies and partners in the western Pacific.”

Smitley’s previous sea assignments include tours as the commanding officer and executive officer of USS Warrior (MCM 10), future operations and plans officer of Destroyer Squadron 50, weapons officer and operations officer of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), damage control assistant aboard the destroyer USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51), and deck division officer onboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8).

Ashore, he served in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Surface Warfare Division (N96), where he was the Requirements Officer for Integrated Air and Missile Defense Weapons, Directed Energy Weapons, and lead action officer in the CNO’s Terminal Defense Cross Functional Team.

Commissioned in 2001, USS Howard is named in honor of Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Jimmie E. Howard. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1967 by President Lyndon B. Johnson for heroism in the Vietnam War.

USS Howard is assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force.

U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.