1. July 13, 2012
Changes of Command
FWC-SD Changes Command
By Aerographer’s Mate 1st Class (AW) Stella G. Swartz
Capt. Greg Ulses relieved Capt. Todd Monroe as commanding officer (CO), Fleet Weather Center San Diego
(FWC-SD) July 6.
Guest speaker Capt. Van Gurley, commanding officer, Naval
Operational Oceanographic Command, praised Monroe’s
accomplishments since standing up FWC-SD as its first Commanding
Officer.
Monroe, who was awarded the Legion of Merit, will report next to the
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Pacific.
“I will miss the day-to-day energy, talent, and professionalism of this
workforce,” Monroe said. “They have truly come together, overcoming
numerous challenges, to achieve something special in the service of
our Navy and nation. From specialized civilians, to motivated, hungry
Sailors to our wardroom, it has been my genuine honor to have
served with each of them as their commissioning CO.”
Ulses comes to San Diego from the Naval Meteorology and
Oceanography Command (NMOC) where he served as assistant
chief of staff, Strategic Plans and Policy as well as Deputy
Hydrographer of the Navy.
“FWC-SD is carrying out the most challenging and dynamic mission in
Capt. Greg Ulses, incoming commanding our community, in the Navy’s most important theater of operations,”
officer, Fleet Weather Center San Diego, is Ulses said. “I can’t imagine being offered a more exciting Command
piped aboard during a change of command opportunity.”
ceremony, July 6. U.S. Navy photo by
Aerographer’s Mate 3rd Class Elise
Perdichizzi

2. Fleet Survey Team Holds Change of Command
By Lanee Cooksey, Naval Oceanographic Office, Public Affairs
The Fleet Survey Team (FST) held a change of command ceremony at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi,
June 21.
Cmdr. Ronald R. Shaw relieved Cmdr. Christopher J. Sterbis as commanding officer.
"You should be extremely proud of what you have
accomplished. The Navy understands the value of the Fleet
Survey Team and what it does," said Naval Oceanographic
Office Commanding Officer Capt. Paul Oosterling, guest
speaker.
Shaw is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, the Naval
Postgraduate School, the University of Southern Mississippi
and the Naval War College.
Cmdr. Chris Sterbis, outgoing Fleet Survey Team A former FST executive officer, he comes to Command from
(FST) commanding officer, reports to Capt. Paul the staff of the U.S. Pacific Command.
Oosterling, Naval Oceanographic Office and Sterbis'
commanding officer, as Cmdr. Ron Shaw, FST Sterbis' next assignment will be in Washington D.C. at
OPNAV, Assessment Division.
incoming commanding officer, looks on during a
change of command ceremony at Stennis Space
Center on June 21. U.S. Navy photo by George
Lammons
Promotions
The following Chief Aerographer's Mates have been selected for senior chief:
Matthew P. Euler, David H. Perrin, Ann Marie Powell and Michael S. Vinson.
Items of Interest
NOAD San Diego Participates in Neighborhood Exchange
By Lt. j.g. Geoff Eberle
Every month the San Diego Armed Services YMCA
volunteers distribute food to young sailors and their
families via the Neighborhood Exchange program.
This program is available for income-qualified military
families and the food is provided by local donors.
Sailors assigned to Naval Oceanography Anti-
Submarine Warfare Detachment (NOAD) San Diego
helped to distribute beans, canned tomatoes, cereal,
fresh peaches, bananas, watermelon and potatoes.

3. Fleet Weather Center San Diego Receives Blue H Award for Second Consecutive Year
By Lt. Cmdr.Thomas Keefer
For the second year in a row, Fleet Weather Center San Diego
(FWC-SD) has been awarded the Navy Surgeon General’s Blue H
award.
The Blue H award is a Health Promotion and Wellness Award
encouraging and rewarding the promotion of health and wellness
in Navy and Marine Corps organizations.
Fleet Weather Center received the highest of three levels, the
Gold Star award, as the result of continuous focus on health and
wellness throughout the year.
Cmdr. Mike Kuypers, executive officer, Fleet
Weather Center San Diego, accepts the Blue H
Gold Star Pennant from the Navy Surgeon
General. U.S. Navy photo by Aerographer’s
Mate 3rd Class Elise Perdichizzi
USNS Henson in the Republic Of Korea
Naval Oceanographic Office surveyors Michael Dunn and Holly Garvin raise the
American flag on the hydrographic survey launch deployed from USNS Henson in
preparation of surveying ports in the Republic of Korea. Personnel deployed on
Henson’s hydrographic survey launch survey areas too shallow and too
restricted for the ship to enter. U.S. Navy photo by Steve Faber
Students from Dauphin Island Sea Lab Visit NAVOCEANO
By Whitney Scheffel
The Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) hosted
six students from Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL) for a
tour of oceanographic science and technology activities at
Stennis Space Center, June 12.
The students are participating in Research Experience for
Undergraduates (REU) sponsored by the National
Science Foundation.
“One of our goals for the DISL-REU program and these
students is exploration of the variety of career options in
marine sciences,” said DISL mentor Dr. Tina Miller.
“Coming from an academic setting, students are often
unaware of the types and applications of research that
Dauphin Island Sea Lab students visit the Boat happen in state, federal, private and non-governmental
Operations Branch in Pass Christian as part of their organizations.”
Naval Oceanographic Office tour. Photo by Whitney
Scheffel

4. Naval Oceanography ASW Detachment, Naples in Action
By Aerographer’s Mate 3rd Class Kathleen Mosher
Commander Task Force Six Nine (CTF-69) and NATO allies completed exercise Shark Hunt 2012, May 23-
June 3.
CTF-69 successfully completed this task with the help of the Naval Oceanography Anti-Submarine Warfare
(ASW) detachment (NOAD), Naples.
The NOAD Sailors manned a 24/7 meteorology and oceanography watch alongside the CTF-69 staff, providing
timely, tactical oceanographic and acoustic analysis to assist CTF-69 planners in optimizing ASW tactics,
techniques and sensors against environmental conditions.
The exercise allowed CTF-69 to become fully certified as Theater Anti-Submarine Warfare Commander
(TASWC).
From left to right: Capt. Wesley Guinn,
Commander of Task Force (CTF) 69,
presents Aerographer’s Mate 1st
Class Rhyan Winbush with a Navy
Achievement Medal and
Aerographer’s Mate 3rd Class
Kathleen Mosher and Aerographer’s
Mate Airman Kylie Marty with flag
letters of commendation for their work
during exercise Shark Hunt 2012.
FWC-SD attends FLIP 50th Celebration
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at University of California, San Diego, and the Office of Naval
Research hosted the 50th celebration of FLIP (Floating Instrument Platform) June 29.
FLIP is a 355-foot research vessel, owned by the
Office of Naval Research (ONR) and
administered and operated by the Marine
Physical Laboratory of Scripps Institution of
Oceanography to conduct investigations in a
number of fields, including acoustics,
oceanography, meteorology and marine mammal
observation.
Rear Adm. Jonathan White, commander of the
Naval Meteorology and Oceanography
Command, was a guest speaker at the event
luncheon and talked about the important link
between the U.S. Navy and SIO.
From left to right: Lt. Darin Keeter, Lt. Charlotte Hill, Lt. j.g. Chris The vessel can partially submerge like a sinking
ship by filling ballast tanks in its stern with water.
Mitchell, Rear Adm. Jonathan White, Capt. Todd Monroe, Cmdr.
When in the vertical position, FLIP's visible
Mike Kuypers, Lt. Cmdr. Tom Keefer, Lt. Lynne Edwards, Lt.
Michelle Mahan, Rodney Jacques and Lt. Chuck Browder pose in
front of the floating instrument platform.

5. floating platform extends 55 feet above the ocean surface while the rest of the hull reaches 300 feet below the
water.
Because much of the vessel is submerged when upright, the platform is impervious to the effects of ocean
waves, providing a stable environment for researchers to do their work.
The steel-hulled platform, built in 1962, accommodates 11 researchers and a crew of five for up to 30 days.
FLIP operates in two modes, drifting with the currents or moored to the sea floor, and supports the deployment
of a variety of sensors and instruments.
Personnel
NGA Hydrographer Retires
By Howard Cohen, NGA Maritime Safety Office
Rear Adm. Chris Andreasen, chief hydrographer, National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), retired May 24.
As NGA’s Chief Hydrographer for 15 years, he helped
develop strategic planning, technical developments and
assisted in the transition to electronic charting.
“I am honored to have served with fine professionals and
to have played a small part in the growth of world of
hydrography,” Andreasen said. “I’m thankful for a
supporting family and will miss the day to day work with
my dear colleagues.”
Rear Adm. Jonathan White, commander of the Naval
Retired Rear Adm. Chris Andreasen accepts, from Meteorology and Oceanography Command, also
Peter Doherty (left), deputy director, Maritime Safety recognized Andreasen’s nearly 50 years of work,
Office, and Capt. Ray Chartier Jr. (right), director, presenting him with a chart of the Bay of St. Louis during
Maritime Safety Office, a ships bell engraved with the 18th International Hydrographic conference in Monaco
in April.
the names of the five ships he served on. Photo by
Larry Franklin
Former Oceanographer of the Navy Seesholtz Dies
Retired Rear Adm. Rich Seesholtz, former Oceanographer of the Navy, died of leukemia and lymphoma, June
8 at the age of 79.
Seesholtz served as the Oceanographer of the Navy from 1983 to 1988.
He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1956 and in 1968, received a doctorate in oceanography at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He served aboard submarines, including command of the USS Dolphin (AGSS 555), a deep-diving submarine,
which undertook deep sonar operations.

6. Seesholtz’s decorations included two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint
Service Commendation Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal.
Sailor Lends a Hand in Mexico
By Kelly LeGuillon, CNMOC Public Affairs
Aviation Electrician’s Mate Airman Clara Valdes ventures to Tijuana, Mexico, as often as she can to work with
children in the orphanage, Casa Hogar de Belen.
She first visited the orphanage in October 2001 as part of a church group.
Valdes instantly fell in love with the children and has been returning ever since.
“I walked off the bus and one of the children ran forward and gave me a hug, and I realized that love doesn't
need to have boundaries,” she said.
The orphanage houses around 70 children, none of whom are true
orphans but are cases of abuse in which the courts have removed
them from their homes.
Valdes is temporarily assigned to Fleet Weather Center San Diego’s
training department.
She has dreamed of serving in the military since she was six-years-
old and applies her Navy core values to her work in Tijuana.
“I need commitment to keep going, even when I see the heartbreak,
the courage to brave Tijuana and the honor of having the Navy trust
me in Mexico,” she said. “You have to work hard and give it your all
in the military. The kids deserve me giving my all and working hard
for them too.”
Valdes, who grew up the youngest of nine, has always loved working
with children and is a big kid at heart.
“I'm 20 and my answer to problems is ice cream,” she said.
She has also fallen in love with the culture and made friends with
members of a local church.
“My friend Carlos's family has basically adopted me,” she said.
Aviation Electrician’s Mate Clara Valdes, “They framed a photo of me and it lives on the wall with the photos
Fleet Weather Center San Diego, of their kids.”
pushes a child from Casa Hogar de
Belen, on a swing during a recent trip to Valdes grew up in Roatan, Honduras, but hopes to live in Tijuana
Tijuana, Mexico. one day when she is finished serving in the Navy.
“I want to watch them (the children from the orphanage) grow up,” she said.
Her goal for the orphanage is to help provide the children with dental care.
Until then, it’s the memories that keep bringing her back.

7. “When a little girl or boy falls asleep in your arms, and you know that even though this child has lived a life of
horror, they can still trust and love, those are the best memories,” she said.
Social Media
Follow Naval Oceanography and Rear Adm. Jonathan White on Facebook and @navyoceans on Twitter to
keep up with all the latest news and images from the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography community.
Rear Adm. Jonathan W. White, USN
Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command
Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command News
1100 Balch Boulevard, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529
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