By Javier Chagoya

Capt. R. Russell Smith, left, renders a salute, accepting command of Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center from Capt. John A. Okon, right, during a Change of Command ceremony held at the Navy's weather forecasting center, Sept. 23. Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Rear Adm. Timothy Gallaudet presided over the ceremony.

Okon, a 2003 graduate of NPS, served two years as FNMOC's commanding officer and was praised by Gallaudet for his leadership, innovation and accomplishments.

"During Captain Okon's watch, he spearheaded the FNMOC distributive processing or cloud computing project, and earned the gold standard of cyber security assurance during this past inspection," said Gallaudet.

"He transformed this unit's moral under his watch. He led my efforts of integrating our portion of the Information Dominance Corps in the support of our intelligence community's mission … keeping the fleet safe. He is my most trusted and effective CO," Gallaudet continued.

Incoming Commanding Officer Smith will be the first Intelligence Officer to take over the fleet's forecasting facility, as he brings a fresh view with his experience in the field of Information Dominance and intelligence.

"Every Navy ship that sails, every aircraft that launches from the deck of a carrier, relies on your tireless efforts … It is vital to the military's ability to fight and win our nation's wars when called upon to do so," said Smith. "The timely and accurate, and penetrating understanding you provide to the fleet of the battle space gives us a tremendous advantage over our potential adversaries from the bottom of the oceans to the reaches of space."