Gen. Richard D. Clarke, commander, U.S. Particular Operations Command, was the presiding officer and visitor speaker of the ceremony. In his remarks, Clarke praised Howard’s management and mission focus for Naval Particular Warfare to be prepared for better complexity and threat – and ship the substantive and transformational modifications for relevance to the Joint Drive and Navy Fleets, survivability, and lethality in protection of the Nation.
“Wyman, you’ve led throughout a historic two years and also you’ve set this command on a tremendous trajectory,” mentioned Clarke. “Over the previous yr alone, I’ve visited SEAL groups working within the Arctic with European companions, and I only in the near past returned from seeing SEALs within the Indo-Pacific. Over the previous two years, Naval Particular Warfare Command has continued to experiment within the maritime area, whether or not that’s with autonomous capabilities, undersea dominance, or many different points. You could have reworked the elite capabilities inside this command by taking them to a brand new stage.”
“Because the Naval Particular Warfare group returns to prioritize the maritime particular operations missions that reach Joint Drive attain into denied areas, Howard has unequivocally accelerated the strategic trajectory of our premier maritime particular operations power to assist our Nation compete and win in opposition to any adversary,” Clarke mentioned. “By means of his management, creativity, and dedication to fixing the Nation’s hardest issues, Naval Particular Warfare is able to maintain our adversaries and their important army capabilities in danger. He has carried out this by means of an aggressive dedication to modernize the best way and means the power assesses, selects, trains, and deploys the most effective Naval Commandos ever.”
Howard assumed command of Naval Particular Warfare Command in September 2020. He targeted on strengthening the power and Naval Particular Warfare households, commissioning a number of new part instructions, and implementing a tradition and sustainable structure for idea improvement, experimentation and steady evaluation and improvement.
“Once I had the privilege to imagine command of this unbelievable crew, we challenged ourselves with a deliberate, complete, and pressing transformation to satisfy new threats and create the irregular warfare choices that strengthen nationwide leverage and amplify the Nation’s built-in deterrence choices,” mentioned Howard. “Within the crucial to innovate for army benefit and edge at this geo-strategic inflection level, I’m extraordinarily pleased with our crew an enrolled and dedicated crew whose professionalism, functionality, integrity, belief, candor and customary goal makes actual the brand new and distinctive missions that solely we are able to do—beneath, on, and above the ocean.”
The ceremony marks the tip of a two-year command tour for Howard, who graduated from Primary Underwater Demolition/SEAL Evaluation, Choice and Coaching with Class 172. He commanded in any respect operational and part ranges of Particular Operations, together with service as commanding officer of Naval Particular Warfare Improvement Group from 2011-2013 and Particular Operation Command Central from 2018-2020. He has a number of excursions in charge of Joint Activity Forces and was among the many first to deploy to Afghanistan following the assaults of September 11, 2001.
“I’m humbled to have served with our Nation’s best warriors, a few of whom made the last word sacrifice in service to our nice Nation,” mentioned Howard. “To our Gold Star households, for his or her sacrifice, a sacrifice too few perceive or comprehend, it’s your resilience and sacrifice that leads us and underpins our basis of honor, braveness, and dedication. We are going to proceed to honor you and our Fallen Teammates with our deeds and our actions.”
Though he was not in a position to attend in-person, Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Gilday, not too long ago thanked Howard for his service and counseled him for making a tradition and mindset amongst the Naval Particular Warfare group that repeatedly self-assesses, corrects, and innovates.
“Naval Particular Warfare continues to enhance its lethality and warfighting readiness each day,” mentioned Gilday. “Howard has been a vanguard for pushing his teammates to be extra self-assessing and extra self-correcting and whereas doing so has accelerated our Navy’s aggressive edge and maintained our Naval Particular Warfare group’s elite popularity because the world’s premier maritime particular operations professionals.”
“I’m grateful for the chance to serve with the professionals in our armed forces and alongside our allies and companions,” mentioned Howard. “This unbelievable group of warriors, leaders, and households is a timeless and genuine crew; a crew that’s by no means intoxicated by success, by no means hides from failure, isn’t defeated in loss. Naval Particular Warfare is a crew all the time on mission, all the time resilient, all the time accountable, with humility and stewardship, for each consequence in protection of our Nation and in service of all People. The Deed is All – Not the Glory.”
Davids, a local of Miami, and 1990 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, most not too long ago served as commander, Particular Operations Command South, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida.
Davids expressed his gratitude to the Naval Particular Warfare Command employees for a first-class turnover week and alter of command ceremony, thanked his household for his or her unwavering love and assist, and praised Howard for his warfighting imaginative and prescient and leaving him a robust {and professional} Drive.
“Wyman has aggressively reworked Naval Particular Warfare for the step modifications in functionality and resourcing to remain forward of our adversaries,” Davids mentioned on the ceremony. “The worldwide threats we face will proceed to name on the total extent of our dedication, our creativity, and our adaptability. We are going to construct on the course that Admiral Howard has set for this group.”
Over 10,000 robust, Naval Particular Warfare consists of roughly 3,000 Sea, Air, Land operators; 700 Particular Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen; 4,600 fight assist and fight service assist personnel, 700 reservists and 1,200 civilian teammates.
Naval Particular Warfare is dedicated to its Sailors and the deliberate improvement of their tactical excellence, ethics, and management because the Nation’s premiere maritime particular operations power totally aligned in assist of the Nationwide Protection Technique. Naval Particular Warfare is the Navy’s particular operation power and the maritime part of U.S. Particular Operations Command, and its mission is to offer maritime particular operations forces to conduct full-spectrum operations, unilaterally or with companions, to assist nationwide targets.
