Command of the Navy's East Coast amphibious forces changed hands July 21 as Rear Adm. Roy I. Kitchener turned his duties over to Rear Adm. Jeffrey W. Hughes after an impactful tour as commander of Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG)2.

Adm. Phil Davidson, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces, presided over the ceremony aboard the amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44).

"Roy has done an exceptional job getting this group organized," said Adm. Phil Davidson, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces. "It is the mission of the Navy as outlined in Title X of U.S. Code to be prepared to conduct prompt and sustained combat incident to operations at sea. That's a pretty tall order and it's the fleet's job to make it all ready to fight and win."

In 2016, Kitchener led more than 4,000 Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and Marines in support of Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief efforts following Hurricane Matthew.

As Commander, Joint Task Force Matthew, Kitchener led his team from USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19), USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) and Port-au-Prince, Haiti as his forces delivered more than 600,000 pounds of aid to the Haitian population in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Kitchener also led ESG-2 through Bold Alligator (BA) 2016 and prepared the staff for BA 2017. BA is a multinational, joint, scenario-driven exercise incorporating multiple geographically separated amphibious ready groups and coalition partners across the full range of expeditionary and amphibious operations, fulfilling the chief of naval operations' mission to reinvigorate the naval forces' amphibious roots.

He also guided the training and preparation of U.S. amphibious force ship and Amphibious Squadron participation and leadership roles in Cold Response 2016 and BALTIC OPERATIONS 2017 where ESG-2 assets served as the commander of the amphibious task force in multi-national NATO exercises in northern Europe, highlighting U.S. commitment to littoral operations capabilities and signaling U.S. resolve across the region at a strategically important time.

Kitchener led the planning and execution of high visibility Fleet Weeks in Port Everglades and New York City embarked in USS New York (LPD 21) and USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), showcasing the Navy's capabilities and educating American citizens on the roles, missions and importance of their naval force.

Additionally, Kitchener led the successful completion of Board of Inspection and Surveys (INSURV) aboard USS San Antonio (LPD 17) and USS Carter Hall (LSD 50), a light off assessment aboard WASP to ensure an on-time deployment for WASP's transition to forward deployed naval forces and countless other maintenance and readiness actions across the ESG-2 claimancy.

"Ruthlessly executing the generation of readiness is not as easy as it sounds but it is what we must do and you have demonstrated it can be done," said Kitchener. "I am so proud of this team's accomplishments and to the Sailors and Marines of Expeditionary Strike Group 2."

Hughes comes to ESG-2 after commanding Navy Recruiting Command in Millington, Tennessee.

"I strive to build on Admiral Kitchener's warfighting and readiness successes with this tremendous ESG-2 team," said Hughes. "This is the most exciting and challenging opportunity of my career, and I stand ready to lead these exceptional Sailors and Marines to victory across the full spectrum of missions assigned."

ESG-2 consists of more than 12,000 Sailors and Marines stationed aboard 13 ships and 10 deployable commands.