The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick conducts a patrol in Disenchantment Bay, Alaska, near Hubbard Glacier, June 13, 2017. The cutter and crew are homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska, and conduct Coast Guard operations throughout Southeast Alaska. (Coast Guard photo | Petty Officer 1st Class Matt Miller)

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick conducts a patrol in Disenchantment Bay, Alaska, near Hubbard Glacier, June 13, 2017. The cutter and crew are homeported in Ketchikan, Alaska, and conduct Coast Guard operations throughout Southeast Alaska. (Coast Guard photo | Petty Officer 1st Class Matt Miller)

Ketchikan-based Coast Guard cutter welcomes new commanding officer

The John McCormick has a new CO.

The Coast Guard Cutter John McCormick, homeported in Ketchikan, has a new commanding officer as of Thursday.

Lt. Joseph Sullivan-Springhetti relieved Lt. Cmdr. Timothy Ozimek as the commanding officer of the vessel. Capt. Stephen White, commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector Juneau, presided over the change of command, according to a Coast Guard news release.

Ozimek, in command of the McCormick since 2018, is headed to the Joint Interagency Task Force-South in Florida. The JIATF is a counter-narcotics unit. Sullivan-Springhetti is returning to Alaska after a tour in Washington, D.C. Sullivan-Springhetti previously served as the executive officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Liberty, stationed in Auke Bay, according to the release.

By land or sea: Law enforcement urges sober driving this holiday weekend

The John McCormick is a fast response cutter, commissioned in 2017. The FRCs are designed for an at-sea endurance of five days, with a maximum speed of nearly 30 knots. With a crew of more than 20, the ship’s mission profile includes search and rescue, marine resource enforcement, national defense, and port, waterways, and coastal security, according to the press release.

The McCormick is named after Boatswain John McCormick, who saved a fellow crewman who was thrown overboard in rough seas off of Point Adams, Oregon in 1938. All of the FRCs are named after enlisted men who distinguished themselves for their heroism.

• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757.621.1197 or lockett@juneauempire.com.

More in News

The Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore docks in Juneau in October, 2022. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire File)
Ships in Port for the Week of May 28

Here’s what to expect this week.

File Photo
Police calls for Saturday, May 27

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Dozens of Juneau teachers, students and residents gather at the steps of the Alaska State Capitol on Jan. 23 in advocacy for an increase in the state’s flat funding via the base student allocation, which hasn’t increased sizeably since 2017 and has failed to keep pace with inflation during the past decade. A one-time funding increase was approved during this year’s legislative session. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
What’s next for the most debated bills pending in the Legislature?

Education funding increase, “parental rights” and other proposals will resurface next year.

Emergency lights flash on top of a police car. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Police investigate assault in Lemon Creek area

“JPD does not believe there is any danger to the public at large.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Feb. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. DeSantis has filed a declaration of candidacy for president, entering the 2024 race as Donald Trump’s top GOP rival (AP Photo / John Raoux)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launches 2024 GOP presidential campaign to challenge Trump

Decision revealed in FEC filing before an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Wednesday, May 23, 2023

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

A channel flows through the mud flats along the Seward Highway and Turnagain Arm in Alaska on Oct. 25, 2014. Authorities said, a 20-year-old man from Illinois who was walking Sunday evening, May 21, 2023, on tidal mud flats with friends in an Alaska estuary, got stuck up to his waist in the quicksand-like silt and drowned as the tide came in before frantic rescuers could extract him.  (Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News)
Illinois man gets stuck waist-deep in Alaska mud flats, drowns as tide comes in

“…It’s Mother Nature, and she has no mercy for humanity.”

Most Read