Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Haydn Smith | 230707-N-HS181-1213 NAPLES, Italy (July 7, 2023) Capt. John Randazzo relieves Capt....... read more read more
NSA Naples Holds Change of Command
Story by: Aaliyah Essex
NAPLES, Italy – Naval Support Activity (NSA) Naples hosted a change of command and retirement ceremony July 7, 2023, onboard Capodichino.
Capt. John Randazzo relieved Capt. James Stewart as the commanding officer of NSA Naples.
The ceremony featured guest speaker Rear Adm. Brad Collins, Commander, Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central.
Collins praised Stewart for all of the work that has been done throughout his time at NSA Naples.
“As the Installation Commanding Officer who hosts U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa, U.S. Sixth Fleet and 50 other tenant commands, including mine, Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central, there is never a dull day,” said Collins. “You have deftly, like a skilled statesman, balanced the breadth and depth of priorities to keep this installation running at peak performance.”
Collins credited Stewart with leading the base through the COVID-19 Pandemic while managing Capodichino, Support Site, Gaeta, Carney Park and supporting Joint Forces Command Naples.
“For any other commander this might have seemed like an overwhelming task, but the NSA Naples team is the most professional installation in the region,” Collins added.
Following Collins’ speech, Stewart gave his final remarks as NSA Naples’ commanding officer.
“It has been an honor to serve in the Navy and here at NSA Naples,” said Stewart. “NSA Naples has presented me with a unique opportunity to work with active duty, civilians, local nationals, and partnering nations. The diversity amongst our staff and partners presents a new culture and philosophy that you, as a leader, must adjust yourself to because true leaders bend themselves to the organization. From a personal development standpoint, it is unrivaled compared to anything else I have done in the military and it has changed me for the better as a leader,” Stewart added.
Capt. Stewart assumed command in July 2020. Since then, the Suquamish, Washington native says his greatest accomplishment has been implementing the Continued Process Improvement (CPI) initiative across the command.
CPI was employed by NSA Naples’ leadership to improve the customer experience across all NSA Naples bases. NSA Naples’ is the first of its kind in Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central (EURAFCENT). Stewart hopes it will be the model program for Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) and ease processes moving forward.
“I hope I have empowered people to make changes and enabled our team to recognize where we can be more efficient—making their jobs easier and thereby, making the experience better for our customers and all the families we serve here,” said Stewart on the CPI program.
In addition to the CPI initiative, he led his Public Works department in the execution of critical base infrastructure projects to include the completion of the Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) and the contract award and successful first phase of the C4I Special Project, greatly increasing resiliency to the facilities onboard NSA Naples. He also drove significant quality of life construction efforts through lease modifications and task orders on Support Site valued at over ten million dollars.
Under his leadership, NSA Naples Operations department supported over 2,175 air terminal flight evolutions involving the movement of over 4.7 million pounds of cargo and the transit of 20,279 passengers and hosting 1,127 distinguished visitors. Two of these flights supported the safe transit of the First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden.
Stewart led the NSA Naples Security department to the only CNIC-led Command Assessment of Readiness and Training (CART) in EURAFCENT, resulting in an overall assessment of 89%.
According to Cmdr. Alex Lamis, NSA Naples Security Officer, the CART results established a new standard resulting in four EURAFCENT installations greatly benefitting and applying critical observations of programmatic and drill lessons to their programs. This shared expertise resulted in the overall success of CARTs in the Region.
Stewart and his team also assisted in the transition of 43 hundred Afghan civilians and partners during Operation Allies Refuge in July - Aug. 2021.
Stewart’s next destination is retirement to Seattle, Washington, alongside his wife, Jennifer, and son, Ethan. His daughter, Sydney, will be going into her sophomore year at University of Oregon majoring in Communications Disorders and Linguistics.
Randazzo arrived in Naples after serving in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) in Washington, DC. He served as the Executive Assistant from March 2022 to February 2023 and previously as the Aviation Manpower Branch Head from July 2020 to March 2022.
Randazzo is a native of Springfield, Virginia. He joined the Navy in June of 1995, attending the United States Naval Academy Preparatory School and United States Naval Academy before receiving his commission in May of 2000 with a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering. He also holds a Master of Arts Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College.
"I am honored to join Team Naples and to have the privilege of leading this incredible group of professionals," said Randazzo. "I appreciate the warm welcome I've received from the installation staff and our Italian host nation. My passion is to support service members and their families. We will build on all the great work by Capt. Stewart and continue to enhance our command's services to better serve our warfighters and maintain our excellent bilateral relationship with our Italian counterparts."
NSA Naples is an operational ashore base that enables U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to be where they are needed, when they are needed to ensure security and stability in Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia.
For more news about NSA Naples and the Sailors who serve onboard the installation, please follow us on Instagram @NSANaples and Facebook at facebook.com/NSANaples/.
| Date Taken: | 07.07.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 07.07.2023 06:28 |
| Story ID: | 448673 |
| Location: | NAPLES, IT |
| Web Views: | 482 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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