USS O'Kane Change of Command

by Joseph Millar

25 April 2025
UNITED STATES

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS O’Kane (DDG 77) held a change of command ceremony at Naval Base San Diego on April 25th, 2025. Cmdr. Brittany Kaluscak relieved Cmdr. Rich Ray as commanding officer during a ceremony surrounded by crew, friends, and family.

“O’Kane’s success is directly tied to the sacrifice and hard work invested into the ship and ourselves” said Ray as he addressed the crew. “We were fortunate in that we were presented with the opportunity to directly protect and defend U.S. citizens and American interests through our time on deployment. I couldn’t think of any other team capable of executing and exceeding all expectations in light of the requirements we faced in my time onboard.”

During his 18 months in command, Ray guided the crew through an accelerated basic phase, ensuring O’Kane’s return to the Fleet. Additionally, Ray led the crew through a deployment to the 5th and 7th fleet areas of operations. While in 5th fleet, O’Kane successfully escorted U.S. flagged and crewed merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden. During the escort, the destroyer worked alongside other U.S. Central Command forces in successfully repelling multiple Iranian-backed Houthi attacks during transits of the Bab el-Mandeb strait. During the transit, the destroyers were attacked by one-way attack un-crewed Aerial systems, anti-ship ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles which were successfully engaged and defeated. The vessels were not damaged, and no personnel were hurt.

After the reading of orders and assumption of command, Kaluscak, now O’Kane’s 18th commanding officer, addressed her crew for the first time.

“I am delighted and honored to return as your Commanding Officer. You are a combat-tested team and I look forward to serving alongside each and every one of you as we continue to represent Admiral O’Kane’s spirit, upholding ‘a tradition of honor’.”

In attendance at the ceremony was the ship’s sponsor, the granddaughter of namesake Rear Admiral Richard O’Kane, Leslie Allen.

Commissioned in 1999, O’Kane is homeported at Naval Base San Diego. O’Kane honors World War II submarine commander Read Admiral Richard O’Kane, who sank more Japanese vessels than any other submarine commander during the war. He was awarded the Medal of Honor on March 27, 1946 for heroism above and beyond the call of duty while in command of USS Tang. O’Kane is currently undergoing a series of upgrades and repairs in preparation for future sustained operations at sea.