INDIAN ISLAND — With a salute and a handshake, Naval Magazine Indian Island got a new skipper Thursday morning.
Capt. Jonathan D. Kurtz admitted that it’s intimidating to walk into the command following Capt. David D. Belt.
“He will certainly be a tough act to follow,” Kurtz said.
It can be easier to walk into a tarnished post and turn it around, Kurtz said.
But in the case of Indian Island, Navy brass from the top down had nothing but praise for the installation that Belt relinquished Thursday to attend additional schooling on the East Coast.
Rear Adm. Leendert R. Hering Sr., commander of Navy Region Northwest, made Thursday’s change of command ceremony a momentous occasion for outgoing Belt as well as the civilian and military crews of Indian Island.
Legion of Merit awarded
Belt was awarded the Legion of Merit, one of the highest forms of praise in the Navy.
When he found that the admiral was going to present him with a personal award at the Thursday morning ceremony on the base parade grounds, Belt declined.
The admiral said he admired the humility, but added: “You are not the boss.”
