Naval Air Station Patuxent River held a ceremony Jan. 10 in which Capt. Douglas Burfield assumed command of the installation from outgoing Commanding Officer Capt. Derrick Kingsley. Burfield’s role as NAS Patuxent River commanding officer follows his previous position as the base executive officer, which he he took on in June 2022 falls under the Navy’s Fleet-Up program. In that program, executive officers serve in that position for approximately a year and a half before they “fleet up” to become the commanding officer for their command tour on the same ship or station. This practice provides focused command leadership stability throughout a base’s life, according to OPNAVINST 1412.14. Commanding officers reap the benefits of the actions and policies they institute as executive officer. A native of St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania, Burfield earned his commission in 1998 from the United States Naval Academy. After flight school and winging in 2000, he was assigned to Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Six (HC-6) and deployed with H-46D detachments aboard USS Arctic (AOE 8) and USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20). Following a shore assignment with Joint Staff J2, Deputy Directorate for Targets, he served as USS Wasp (LHD 1) Hangar Officer, Mini Boss and Officer of the […]
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