Galveston based Coast Guard cutter receives new commander

News Release

May 25, 2017 U.S. Coast Guard 8th District Public Affairs Detachment Texas Contact: 8th District Public Affairs Detachment Texas Office: (281) 464-4810 After Hours: (832) 293-1293

Galveston based Coast Guard cutter receives new commander 

 

HOUSTON — The media are invited to a Coast Guard change-of-command ceremony Thursday that will formally recognize the new commanding officer of the 210-foot cutter Dauntless, as the outgoing commander retires from the Coast Guard.

WHO: 
Cmdr. Timothy Sommella will be relieving Cmdr. Charles “Fritz” Kuebler as the commanding officer of the Dauntless

WHEN: 
Thursday, May 25, 2017, at 6 p.m.  (Media please arrive by 5:30 p.m.)

WHERE:
Flight deck of the Dauntless 
3000 Fort Point Rd Galveston
Texas, TX 77550

Cmdr. Charles Kuebler, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, assumed command of the Dauntless in May 2015. Under his leadership, Dauntless and her crew executed six deployments to the Florida Straits, Caribbean Sea, and Eastern Pacific Ocean. Together, they navigated the Panama Canal, intercepted six drug smuggling vessels, and interdicted nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants. In 2016, the Dauntless returned home with more than 26 tons of cocaine worth at least $715 million. Kuebler will be retiring after the change-of-command ceremony.

Cmdr. Timothy Sommella is the incoming commanding officer of the Dauntless. He has held a variety of sea-going command and staff positions throughout his career, including eight years on five Coast Guard and Navy warships. Most recently, he served as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security responsible for cyber security and critical infrastructure protection policy. He previously served as the Coast Guard Liaison Office at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

After her commissioning in 1967, Dauntless was home-ported in Miami, Florida, until 1993 when she was decommissioned and entered dry dock in the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland. The ship was completely overhauled from stem to stern. After her time in Baltimore, the Dauntless was assigned to Galveston, Texas.

The change-of-command ceremony is a time-honored, military tradition. It is a formal ritual conducted before the assembled company of the command. It conveys to officers and enlisted personnel of the cutter that although the authority of command is relinquished by one person and assumed by another, it is still maintained without interruption.

Media interested in attending are requested to RSVP by 4 p.m. today to Coast Guard Public Affairs Detachment Texas at 832-293-1293 or PublicAffairsHouston@uscg.mil 

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