Command changes at Naval Magazine Indian Island

INDIAN ISLAND — Cmdr. Nick Vande Griend turned over command of Naval Magazine Indian Island to Cmdr. Rocky Pulley on Thursday.

Vande Griend turned over the post after two years in the position. He also retired from the U.S. Navy after serving for 30 years.

“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve these 30 years,” Vande Griend said.

“It is with a heavy heart that I tell you I fought the good fight, I finished the race and now it is time for me to move on.”

Rear Adm. Gary Mayes, commander of Navy Region Northwest, relieved Vande Griend of his duties as commanding officer of Naval Magazine Indian Island during the ceremony on the pier of Naval Magazine Indian Island, just across the bay from Port Townsend and in the shadow of the USNS Cesar Chavez, which was docked there.

Vande Griend’s son, Jacob Vande Griend, a member of the Air Force ROTC at Oregon State and a 2016 graduate of Port Townsend High School, relieved his father of active duty in the Navy.

Vande Griend was deployed for seven of the 26 years he has been married to his wife, Sonja, Mayes said.

Vande Griend thanked his wife during the ceremony.

“I’ve realized that every good thing I’ve had in my life is due to you, Sonja,” he said. “You managed the house, finances, took care of the kids. You did everything you had to do. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Vande Griend also thanked his children — sons Elijah, Jacob and Isaiah — for their support and the crew at Indian Island for their work.

In the two years Vande Griend served as the munitions handling facility’s commanding officer, he oversaw the movement of 80,000 pounds of ordnance off 60 ships.

He was also honored for his work on making Indian Island more energy-efficient in 2016.

New commander

Indian Island is not Pulley’s first post in the Pacific Northwest. In 1999, he was promoted to chief petty officer and stationed on Whidbey Island. In 2000, Pulley was deployed again for Operation Iraqi Freedom and in 2008 returned to Washington state, stationed in Everett.

Pulley will live on Marrowstone Island while serving in his new post. He is married to Bobbie.

“It is very easy to come to work knowing what an astounding group of professionals I come to work with,” Pulley said during the ceremony.

Pulley said his main goal during his time as commanding officer will be to continue partnerships made with the surrounding communities of Port Townsend, Chimacum and Marrowstone Island.

Pulley, originally from Boise, Idaho, enlisted after graduating from high school in 1986 and reported to San Diego, Calif., for basic training.

He was assigned to the bomb/rocket assembly division during his first tour in 1989 aboard the USS Midway bound for Japan to assist in operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield.

Vande Griend’s history

Born in Hull, Iowa, Vande Griend enlisted in 1987 as an aviation electrician’s mate, a position he worked in until 1995. He earned a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Iowa State and then attended flight school in Florida.

In 2001, after completing the Joint Aviation Electronic Warfare School at NAS Whidbey Island, Vande Griend was deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln during operations Enduring Freedom, Southern Watch and Iraqi Freedom.

In 2004, Vande Griend moved on to being a flight instructor but continued to serve multiple deployments on the USS Abraham Lincoln, USS John Stennis and USS Ronald Reagan.

At the end of Thursday’s ceremony, Vande Griend and his family were whistled ashore, marking Vande Griend’s final time as an enlisted member of the armed forces and the beginning of his life as a civilian.

“A Navy life is a life submersed in tradition,” Mayes said.

“Naval traditions are the best parts of our history preserved in ceremonies from the ordinary to the spectacular.”

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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.