Cmdr. Bradley Coletti relieved Cmdr. Gervy Alota as commanding officer of amphibious dock landing ship USS Comstock (LSD 45), Feb. 1, while underway on a deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

During the ceremony on the ship's flight deck, attended by the crew and Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Alota reflected on the crew's successes, as well as his motto: "Win every day. Be great."

"When I took command, I established a culture of winning," said Alota. "Four simple words we said every week: 'Win every day. Be great.' With just those four words, we shared a purpose. We shared attitudes, values, goals, practices, behaviors, and habits that define us, warship 45. Milestones and goals were a big part of our philosophy. As a result, we had unprecedented success as a ship."

Coletti thanked Alota, who assumed command of Comstock July 2015, for his leadership and praised him for his contributions to the ship's crew and mission.

"What we do matters out here on deployment," Coletti said, addressing the crew as Comstock's new commanding officer. "Our great country and other nations in the world are counting on us to bring stability to a very dynamic, changing world. I'm proud of each and every one of you. It's an honor and a privilege to be your commanding officer."

Comstock is deployed with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from USS Makin Island (LHD 8), visit http://www.navy.mil/.