U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) and crew held a change of command ceremony June 29 in Seattle.
Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard, presided over the ceremony in which Capt. Michele Schallip relieved Capt. Kenneth Boda as Healy’s commanding officer.
Boda served as Healy’s commanding officer from June 2021 to June 2023. Under Boda’s command, Healy deployed twice to the Arctic region, including circumnavigating North America, and transiting to the geographic North Pole, in support of oceanographic and climate research. Hundreds of science station operations were completed in support of the Arctic Mobile Observing System and Synoptic Arctic survey, including mapping of the ocean floor, 281 Connectivity, Temperature and Depth casts, and 437 over-the-side science instrument deployments.
“As a career icebreaker sailor, the last two years aboard Healy have truly been a highlight of my time in the Coast Guard,” said Boda. “I was very fortunate to sail with such a talented crew to some of the most inaccessible and fascinating places on the planet. We conducted oceanographic research that advanced scientific understanding of the earth’s climate system, and projected United States sea power to the high Arctic.”
Schallip reports to the Healy from the Office of the Commandant. Healy will be Schallip’s fifth cutter and her third command. Her time in command will be her second tour aboard Healy, having served as the ship’s executive officer from 2018 to 2020.
Boda departs Healy to serve as the deputy of the Marine Transportation System Management Directorate.
Commissioned in 1999, Healy is one of two active icebreakers homeported in Seattle. At 420-feet long, Healy is the newest, largest, and most technologically advanced icebreaker in the Coast Guard’s fleet.
