Sailors, civilian personnel, and family members gathered for the Afloat Training Group (ATG) Norfolk change of command ceremony held at Afloat Training Group Auditorium, Naval Station Norfolk, Sept. 28.

Capt. Zoah Scheneman was relieved by Cmdr. William M. Harkin as commanding officer, ATG Norfolk.

Guest speaker, Capt. Robert A. Hall Jr., commander of ATG Atlantic, spoke to attendees emphasizing Scheneman’s wealth of experience and devotion to his Sailors.

“He’s always looking out for the best interests of his Sailors and he’s smart enough to understand even the most complex issues,” said Hall. “When I was briefed by him on a personnel issue, it always amazed me to hear just how much he knew about it and how much he knew about his folks and how much he cared.”

Scheneman took the podium and expressed his gratitude for all those who served under him and thanked all the ATG Sailors.

“I could not have done this job if they had not teed up along the way,” said Scheneman.

Scheneman was awarded f the Legion of Merit award for his service as commanding officer of ATG.

After the reading of official orders, Harkin, now fully in command, reflected on the best part of his Navy career.

“I am excited to be apart of the ATG team,” said Harkin. “Without a doubt the best part of the Navy experience is the people you meet and the people you serve with.”

After the ceremony, Harkin briefly spoke about the incoming training policy changes under his leadership.

“The U.S. Navy Sailor is our greatest resource and they always will be,” said Harkin. “If we can do a better job of training them then that’s what we’re going to do and that’s what the intention here is with the shifting training policy.”

The training policy changes are targeted to occur somewhere around November 1st, according to Harkin.

“The policies are geared to make the ships better, which, when we say the ships, we’re saying focus on the training for the sailors,” said Harkin.

ATG is responsible for training 50 ships and commands and performing 5,600 missions across the Atlantic.

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