Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans relieved Rear Adm. Richard A. Brown as Commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), in a traditional change of command ceremony, July 21.

The ceremony was held in the USS White Hat at Training Support Center (TSC), on Naval Station Great Lakes. USS White Hat, known as the "ship in a bottle," is a partial replica of a ship at Boatswain's Mate "A" School used to train the Navy's future boatswain's mates.

Rear Adm. Michael S. White, commander, Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), was the principle speaker at the ceremony.

"It's a privilege to be here today as we gather to take part in a very time-honored Navy tradition to witness the transfer of command," said White to the more than 100 family, friends, NSTC staff members and Sailors from area commands.

NSTC, headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, oversees 98 percent initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy. This training includes the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program at more than 160 colleges and universities. NSTC also oversees Officer Training Command (OTC), at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy's only boot camp, at Naval Station Great Lakes, as well as the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development program at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

"The motto of Navy Education and Training Command is 'Fleet Readiness Starts Here' and that is literally the case for Naval Service Training Command," said White. "NSTC is the 'Source of the Force' and under the guiding hand of Rear Adm. Brown the results have been nothing short of spectacular."

Brown, a native of Lowell, Massachusetts, will report as commander, Carrier Strike 11, embarked on board the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), homeported in Bremerton, Washington.

"I can think of no higher calling than overseeing the transition of more than 40,000 civilians into Sailors and officers each year," said Brown. "This has been an incredible tour and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Great Lakes. I am grateful to the NSTC military and civilian staff for their dedication to the Navy."

According to White, during Brown's tenure, NSTC helped continue to grow and reinvigorate the NROTC program at Ivy League Schools with the reintroduction of the Brown University unit. He oversaw the return of the NJROTC National Academic, Athletic and Drill Championships at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, after a two year absence. Brown also implemented a first-of-its-kind NJROTC suicide prevention, bystander and hazing intervention programs to more than 92,000 cadets worldwide.

Brown also embraced the Massive Multi-Player Online War Game Leveraging the Internet, or MMOWGLI. Partnering with the U.S. Naval Academy and Naval Post Graduate School, the crowd sourcing website is designed to get fleet feedback on common core curriculum for all Naval officer accession commands.

Rear Adm. Evans, from Beaufort, South Carolina, reported to NSTC following assignment as the senior military assistant to the Secretary of the Navy.

Evans received his commission as a member of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps in 1986 from the Citadel while earning a Bachelor of Arts degree.

His sea tours include the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), destroyer USS Deyo (DD 989), destroyer USS Hewitt (DD 966) and as executive officer of the guided-missile cruiser USS Hue City (CG 66) before taking over as commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57). He went on to serve as deputy commodore of Destroyer Squadron 24 and commodore of Destroyer Squadron 50 where he commanded Combined Task Force 55 (Middle East Force) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Combined Task Force 152. He made numerous deployments to the Arabian Gulf, Mediterranean, North Atlantic and Western Pacific areas of operation earning the Battle Excellence Award in every ship assigned.

His shore commands include Professional Development Division and Chairman of the Admissions Board, United States Naval Academy, and his most recent assignment as Senior Military Assistant to the 75th Secretary of the Navy.

He holds a Master's degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

"It is truly an honor to assume command of NSTC," said Rear Adm. Evans. "I thank Rear Adm. Brown for his leadership of such a professional staff and their devotion to producing the highest quality Sailors for our fleet. I am excited to lead and I look forward to continuing in the tradition of excellence for our Naval accessions training."

Brown received his commission from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics.

His sea tours include the guided-missile destroyer USS Charles F. Adams (DDG 2), the guided-missile destroyer USS O'Bannon (DDG 987), the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), and as executive officer aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan (DDG 72). He also served as commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS Sullivans (DDG 68) and as commanding officer of the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64).

Ashore, he served as flag secretary for the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic/Commander in Chief, as executive assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) and Commanding Officer of Surface Warfare Officers School Command.

He took command of Naval Service Training Command in June 2014.

For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/.