Cmdr. Timothy Carter relieved Cmdr. Tina Dalmau as commanding officer (CO) of amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) during a change of command ceremony held aboard the ship at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek.

As the ship's 14th Captain, Dalmau led Carter Hall from August 2015 - November 2016 and, upon relinquishing the helm, begins her journey to San Diego, Calif. to serve as the reactor officer aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70).

"The best part of my job in the Navy - whether it be as the CO, department head, division officer - are the Sailors that make it great; and the Carter Hall has some of the best I've ever worked with," said Dalmau. "They've done everything that we've asked them to do even though it's been challenging and hard at times. I couldn't have asked for a more dedicated group."

During Dalmau's tenure, Carter Hall finished a successful 2016 Baltic Operations deployment to the Baltic Sea in support of maritime-focused exercises designed to enhance flexibility and interoperability, as well as demonstrate resolve among NATO and partner nations to operate in and defend the Baltic region. The ship also completed Basic Phase under her leadership and INSURV during the final week of October, 2016.

"It's been a humbling yet extremely rewarding experience to serve as commanding officer. I think the 'fightin' five-oh' has a great future ahead of them and I look forward to reading about all the great things she will be doing in the years to come." Dalmau concluded.

Carter, a native of Albany, Georgia, assumed command of Carter Hall after serving as the ship's executive officer (XO). He graduated from Norfolk State University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Information System Technology.

"I've enjoyed my time as the XO," said Carter. "It has definitely been fulfilling and rewarding to see where we've come from the first day I walked on board the ship to where we are now as a unit. We're going to look forward to continuing our training and continue to make preparations to deploy. Those 'fightin' five-oh' principles. We live it, we breathe it; we teach it."


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