Imagery Available: USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) holds change of command ceremony

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Contact: Coast Guard Atlantic Area Public Affairs Office: (757) 398-6521 After Hours: (757) 641-0763 Atlantic Area online newsroom

USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) holds change of command ceremony

  

Editors' Note: To view more or download high-resolution imagery, click on the photos above.
To view the ceremony visit us on @USCGCStone on Facebook or click here.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Capt. Clinton Carlson relieved Capt. Adam Morrison as the commanding officer of USCGC Stone (WMSL 758), during a formal change of command ceremony at the unit, Wednesday.

Vice Adm. Steven Poulin, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area, presided over the ceremony.

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve alongside the plank owner crew of Coast Guard Cutter Stone,” said Morrison. “Together, we brought the U.S. Coast Guard’s newest asset into the fleet mix and achieved many noteworthy operational achievements during Stone’s first deployment. Though this relief marks the end of my sea-going career, I depart the ship knowing the 130 men and women assigned aboard will continue to do great things for our service and our nation.”

Morrison will report for duty as deputy Coast Guard Cyber Command. Of note, following delivery of Stone, Morrison and his crew completed Operation Southern Cross, a multi-month deployment to the South Atlantic to spotlight illegal fishing practices.

Morrison’s reported to Stone after serving as the first U.S. Coast Guard attaché assigned to Defense Attaché Office Tokyo within the United States embassy. His afloat tours include Planetree (WLB 307), Eagle (WIX 327), Seneca (WMEC 906), Chandeleur (WPB 1319), Harriet Lane (WMEC 903), and Mohawk (WMEC 913). Other shoreside tours include nautical science instructor at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy; congressional fellow to the Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Homeland Security Appropriations; and as a budget and program reviewer for the Commercial Regulations and Standards Directorate, Inspections and Compliance Directorate, and the Incident Management and Preparedness Directorate. He is a 1995 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Carlson is arriving from U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters serving as director of Law Enforcement, Maritime Security, and Defense Operations Policy. There, he oversaw the strategic mission management of some of the Coast Guard’s most dynamic programs responsible for the safety and security of the nation. He previously commanded Coast Guard Patrol Forces Southwest Asia, the Coast Guard’s largest unit outside the United States based in Manama, Bahrain.

A 1990 graduate of the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina, Carlson began his military career as an ensign in the U.S. Navy. A diving and salvage officer, he served aboard USS Recovery (ARS 43), a salvage and rescue tug homeported in Little Creek, Virginia.

With 13 years afloat experience, he has served aboard USCGC Sassafras (WLB 401), USCGC Sedge (WLB 402), USCGC Hickory (WLB 212), USCGC Dallas (WHEC 716) and USCGC Gallatin (WHEC 721), USCGC Maple (WLB 207), and USCGC Tampa (WMEC 902).

Ashore Carlson’s assignments include the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Waterways Management Branch, Coast Guard Port Security Unit 311, United States Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany.

The Stone departed from Pascagoula, Mississippi, just ahead of Christmas 2020 for a multi-month deployment to the South Atlantic, countering illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, strengthening relationships for maritime sovereignty and security throughout the region.

Stone is the ninth Legend-class national security cutter, one of the U.S. Coast Guard’s flagships, provided a presence and support for national security objectives throughout the Atlantic. This patrol served as the cutter’s initial shakedown cruise following delivery in November.

Southern Cross was the service’s first patrol to the South Atlantic in recent memory undertaken with Guyana, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Portugal. In addition, the cutter has embarked a shiprider from the Portuguese navy under a non-binding international agreement. The U.S. Coast Guard conducted Operation Southern Cross in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Southern Command, charged with managing operations in central and South America by working collaboratively to ensure the Western Hemisphere is secure, free, and prosperous.

A change of command is a military tradition representing a formal transfer of authority and responsibility for a unit from one commanding or flag officer to another. The passing of colors, standards, or ensigns from an outgoing commander to an incoming one ensures that the unit and its members are never without official leadership, a continuation of trust.

-USCG-