After 22 months in the captain's chair, Capt. Chuck Good turned over command of the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) to Capt. Chris Alexander while pierside at Naval Base San Diego, June 24.

Good's tour saw Princeton through a wide variety of milestones for both the ship and the crew.

Completing an extensive U.S. 5th Fleet deployment in October 2013, Princeton went straight into an extended docking selected restricted availability (EDSRA) period.

"This magnificent crew has returned Princeton to the fleet fully modernized and ready for another decade of service," said Good, speaking about the arduous 16-month mid-life shipyard overhaul.

Coming out of the yards as one of the most capable and upgraded ships on the waterfront, Princeton has spent the last few months exhaustively testing all new systems.

"We just returned from completing combat systems ship qualification trials for our new upgrades, and this crew came away with a perfect score - all targets killed, all mission capabilities demonstrated," said Good. "No CO [commanding officer] likes to give up command, but what a way to go out with a bang, literally!"

Good and his family will be moving to Monterey, California, for his next tour as the surface warfare chair at the Naval Post-Graduate School.

Alexander, coming to Princeton from the staff of Commander, Naval Surface Forces U.S. Pacific Fleet in Coronado, California, said he is ready to take on the task of commanding the most powerful surface combatant in U.S. 3rd Fleet.

"This ship and her ever-changing crew have seen a lot the past few years" said Alexander. "I am more than ready and excited to see what the next few years bring, and to show off our new systems to the waterfront."

Princeton is currently in the basic phase of training in preparation for a future deployment with a carrier strike group.

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