Coast Guard Cutter Dependable holds 26th change of command ceremony

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News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Public Affairs North
D5 Public Affairs North, Baltimore, Md
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Coast Guard Cutter Dependable holds 26th change of command ceremony

The Coast Guard Cutter Dependable departs New York City and travels down the Hudson River, Jan. 29 2020. The Virginia Beach-based 210-foot Reliance Class Medium Endurance Cutter routinely conducts homeland security missions in the offshore waters of the Western Hemisphere, from New England to the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Scott Barfoot)

Editors' Note: Click on images to download high-resolution version.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Coast Guard Cmdr. Joshua D. Burch relieved Cmdr. Christopher R. Parrish, Commanding Officer Coast Guard Cutter Dependable on Thursday, in a change of command ceremony held at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.

Burch returns to the Dependable, having previously served two tours as a deck watch officer and operations officer. His other shipboard assignments include commanding officer, Coast Guard Cutter Ocracoke and executive officer, Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous. 

Burch’s staff tours include a tour at the Joint Coast Guard Atlantic Area/Coast Guard Fifth District Command Center as a search and rescue controller and in the training operations division at Force Readiness Command. 

He is reporting from the Office of Law Enforcement Policy at Coast Guard headquarters.

Burch received his commission in 2002 from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with an undergraduate degree in marine environmental science. He holds a master’s degree in instructional systems from Penn State University.

Parrish is departing after a two-year tour to assume the role of executive assistant to the Pacific Area commander in Alameda, California.

For media interviews, contact LTJG Lydia Kline at Lydia.M.Kline@uscg.mil or 757-462-7770.

-USCG-