Command change for high-profile cutter
The U.S. Coat Guard will hold a change of command ceremony Thursday for the Coast Guard cutter Valiant, which has been involved in a series of high-profile missions under the command of Capt. David Cinalli.
Cinalli will be relieved by Cmdr. David Fiedler in a ceremony at the Coast Guard Integrated Support Command on Miami Beach.
During the 14 months under the command of Cinalli, the Valliant has processed more than 1,200 illegal migrants. In one unprecedented case, the cutter interdicted a group of 311 Haitian migrants on the Bahamian island of Anquilla Cay. The migrants, a group that was described by the Coast guard as 'large and unruly, were safely repatriated to Port-Au-Prince.
Cinalli will be reporting to the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. He is being replaced by Fiedler, whose previous assignments include four cutters, including Coast Guard Cutter Grand Isle and Coast Guard Cutter Campbell, on which he served as commanding officer and executive officer, respectively.
The 210-foot Valiant operates primarily in the Straits of Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Eastern Caribbean Sea. It has a crew of 12 officers and approximately 65 enlisted personnel.