On July 4, the "Vigilantes" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151 conducted a change of command aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) as Cmdr. Dustin Lee was relieved by Cmdr. Patrick Hourigan as commanding officer.

Capt. Trey Sisson, commander, Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW 9), presided over the ceremony, which was held on the ship's flight deck while moored in Pearl Harbor.

The ship is in port to participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.

A native of Colorado, Lee began his aviation career with the "Blue Blasters" of VFA-34 based in Oceana, Virginia.

Following his assignment with the Blue Blasters, he attended the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and served as a Fleet Replacement Squadron Strike Fighter Tactics instructor at VFA-106 before joining the "Valions" of VFA-15 for his training officer tour.

Upon transferring from VFA-15, Lee earned his master's degree and completed Joint Professional Military Education Phase 1 from the Marine Corps War College, and completed a department head tour at VFA-94 where he was forward deployed to Iwakuni, Japan.

After returning stateside, Lee served as an operations floor commander at the Missile Warning Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado before reporting to his command tour June 2013.

During his tour as commanding officer, VFA-151 exhibited excellence in every facet of its operation. The command earned numerous awards -- including the Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific Safety Award, 2015 Retention Excellence Award, the Blue "M" Award for medical readiness, and both 2016 CVW-9 Leadership Awards.

Additionally, Lee led the squadron through the completion of an arduous work-up cycle in preparation for its current Western Pacific deployment, which included participation in Operation Foal Eagle, Undersea Warfare Exercise (USWEX), and the exercises Balikatan, and Malabar.

Lee has accumulated over 2,700 hours in naval aircraft, and has orders to fill a billet at Strike Fighter Wing Pacific.

A native of Mountaintop, Pennsylvania, Hourigan graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1998.

His previous fleet experience included a junior officer tour with the "Kestrels" of VFA-137, a training officer tour with the "Royal Maces" of VFA-27, and a department head tour with the "Blue Diamonds" of VFA-146.

On shore duty, he attended TOPGUN before serving as a tactics instructor at Strike Fighter Weapons School Pacific. Additionally, he attended the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, earning a master's degree in National Security Studies, and served as an action officer in the J-5 Directorate at North American Aerospace Defense Command-U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Hourigan joined VFA-151 May 2015 and looks forward to continuing the tradition of excellence exhibited by the squadron throughout his command tour.

The Vigilantes are currently embarked aboard John C. Stennis as part of CVW-9, providing a ready force in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. The John C. Stennis Strike Group is operating as part of the Great Green Fleet on a regularly scheduled Western Pacific deployment.

For more news from VFA-151, CVW-9 and the John C. Stennis Strike Group, visit http://www.vfa151.navy.mil/, http://navy.mil/local/cvn74/ or http://www.facebook.com/stennis74/.

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For more news from USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), visit http://www.navy.mil/.