USA: URC Holds Change of Command Ceremony

Undersea Rescue Command (URC) held a change of command ceremony on Naval Air Station North Island Nov. 20.

Cmdr. Andrew Kimsey relieved Cmdr. David Lemly as commanding officer. Capt. Thomas Ishee, commander, Submarine Squadron 11 was the guest speaker at the ceremony. He congratulated Lemly on a job well done and remarked that Kimsey comes to URC with impressive credentials and many successes.

Under Lemly’s command, URC conducted three mobilizations of submarine rescue systems to locations around the world. During Exercise Pacific Reach 2010 URC Conducted Submarine Rescue Chamber operations off the coast of Singapore with Japanese and Singapore Navy submarines. URC also conducted Submarine Rescue System operations off the coast Spain with Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish submarines during Exercise Bold Monarch 2011.

URC recently participated in exercise INDIAEX 2012 off the coast of Mumbai, India where URC practiced rescue scenarios with five Indian Navy submarines. The exercise demonstrated the full deployability of URC’s Submarine Rescue Diving and Recompression System.

“I have to thank my crew for their outstanding dedication and hard work throughout my tenure as Commanding Officer,” said Lemly. “We were challenged with a very demanding operational schedule over the past three years and my crew always stepped up to the plate and delivered. The teamwork and dedication demonstrated every day by URC kept me motivated and I could not have been successful without them.”

Lemly retired after 24 years of dedicated service.

Kimsey, a native of Kalamazoo, Mich. began his Navy career in 1993 when he was commissioned after earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the United States Naval Academy. His previous assignments include USS Pasadena (SSBN 752), USS Salt Lake City (SSN 716) and Joint Special Operations Command. He has also served as executive officer and commanding officer of USS Maryland (SSBN 738).

URC’s mission is world-wide Submarine assessment, intervention, and rescue using Deep Submergence Systems including Atmospheric Diving Suit 2000, Submarine Rescue Chamber, Pressurized Rescue Module and Side Scan Sonar. URC is homeported at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif. and is assigned to Submarine Squadron 11, which consists of six Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, URC, three Torpedo Retrievers, and a floating dry-dock.

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Naval Today Staff,November 22, 2012; Image: US Navy