Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) Global Logistics Support (GLS) held a change of command ceremony aboard the USS Midway Museum, Sept. 18.
Rear Adm. Vincent L. Griffith relieved Rear Adm. Jonathan A. Yuen as commander.
NAVSUP GLS, based in San Diego, is the headquarters for a network of seven Fleet Logistics Centers around the globe, from Yokosuka, Japan, across the United States, to Sigonella, Italy.
An eighth Fleet Logistics Center is being established in Bahrain. As the “logistics face to the fleet,” NAVSUP GLS and its global logistics centers provide an extensive array of integrated global logistics and contract services to the Navy, Marine Corps, joint operational units and allied forces across all warfare enterprises around the world. Yuen’s next assignment will be commander, Naval Supply Systems Command, headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pa.; he will also assume the role as 47th chief of Supply Corps.
“Today, NAVSUP GLS is providing innovative, creative, and cost effective solutions that allow our Navy to remain ready to meet current challenges, continue to develop a relevant and capable future force, and to support our Sailors, Navy civilians and their families,” Yuen said during the ceremony. “The message I would leave with this NAVSUP GLS team is: each one of us must understand what we do every day to support the warfighter. Today, we are relevant. Now, together, we must continue to develop an organization that is resilient but not redundant.”
Yuen continued, “What makes the Supply Corps unique is that we do not simply support from afar or, as some might say, ‘In the rear with the gear.’ Instead, we are imbedded with the aviators, surface warfare operators, submariners, Seabees, SEALS, EOD teams, the Marines, and – in many cases – the Army and Air Force.
“Our community prides itself in understanding the needs of the operator through firsthand experience. I am proud to say that we at GLS have continued this embedded culture that my predecessors here today fought so hard to instill and develop in our organization.”
Griffith comes to NAVSUP GLS from his previous assignment as director, Fleet Ordnance and Supply and as Fleet supply officer on the staff of Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk, Va.
“As I listened to Rear Admiral Heinrich’s (current Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command, 46th chief of Supply Corps and change of command guest speaker) and Rear Admiral Yuen’s remarks, they both highlighted NAVSUP GLS’s numerous contributions to readiness.
“I am very impressed by the list of significant accomplishments. I am confident that we are aligned with the CNO’s tenets of Warfighting First, Operate Forward, Be Ready. This team will be faced with numerous challenges. Despite these challenges, I am confident this team has the initiative, ingenuity and strength to provide outstanding support to warfighters around the world.”
NAVSUP GLS, the fleet logistics component of NAVSUP, is comprised of more than 6,600 military and civilian logistics professionals operating from a total 110 locations worldwide.
[mappress] Press Release, September 19, 2013