Washington officials honor incoming and outgoing Coast Guard leaders

Adm. Thad Allen chose a most fitting song to be played at the change of command ceremony Tuesday when he relinquished his position as commandant of the Coast Guard: "Ready for the Storm," by Scottish songwriter Dougie MacLean. Allen will chart a difficult course as he continues his role as the national incident commander for the federal response to the unfolding disaster in the Gulf of Mexico weeks after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion.

At a ceremony at Washington's' Fort McNair, a short walk from Coast Guard headquarters in Southwest Washington, Allen's service was celebrated by dozens of members of Congress, two Cabinet secretaries, all four military service chiefs and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former commandants, leaders of several federal agencies, and dozens of foreign coast guards.

Also attending the ceremony was Allen's father, retired Coast Guard Chief Damage Controlman Clyde Allen, who lied about his age to join the service during World War II. Together, the two men lowered the flag representing Allen's service as commandant. At the younger Allen's request, the ceremonial flag was the same one that flew over the U.S. Capitol on April 20, his wife Pam's birthday.

Adm. Robert J. Papp replaced Allen, becoming the 24th commandant of the Coast Guard.

"Adm. Allen turns over a Coast Guard that is more capable, modern, prepared and efficient than at any time in its history, and he leaves it in the capable hands of another fine leader, Adm. Papp," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

Papp, most recently Atlantic Area commander where he led all Coast Guard missions in the eastern half of the world, has commanded four cutters. In addition, he coordinated response to more than 30 tropical storms and nine major hurricanes, Napolitano said.

She reminded attendees this wasn't the first time a president had called on Allen to attend to disaster, noting the role he played in marshalling the federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when he was Coast Guard chief of staff.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, "Allen has implemented the largest organizational changes since World War II, including an overdue modernization and recapitalization program that will better equip the Coast Guard to meet 21st century challenges."

Gates also cited Allen's role in developing the first maritime strategy to include all three sea services -- the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard -- and noted Allen was the main advocate for an interagency framework to deal with threats from the sea.

"It is hard to imagine a period when we have asked more of our Coast Guard than right now," said Napolitano. "As I speak, thousands of Coast Guard personnel are responding to the very serious oil leak of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. What began as a search-and-rescue operation by the Coast Guard has now become a potential worst-case scenario and an environmental catastrophe. Mitigating the damage will take the sustained, long-term involvement of the Coast Guard, who has been on scene since day one."

Both Papp and Allen will play key roles in that ongoing involvement.