On Aug. 16, Captain James H. Jones relieved Captain Charles E. A. Baker  as Commanding Officer, Naval Intermediate Maintenance Facility (IMF), Pacific Northwest, during a Change of Command Ceremony held at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor. Captain Stephen Williamson, Commander, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and IMF, was the guest speaker.

“Chuck absolutely was the leader of the IMF but he will be the first to say as we all do here in the Northwest, it is truly a team effort supporting these submarines,” Capt. Williamson said. “Team Bangor is about the warfighter first and always. He will also tell you that he had a great team of Sailors and civilians that did the heavy lifting. While there is no doubt that this military civilian team that exists here is second to none, and they truly are the stars, a ship must have a captain at its helm and the IMF had a great one.”

Captain Jones comes from Norfolk, Va., where he served as Deputy Commander, Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Commanding Officer of the Enlisted Element at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. He entered the Navy in 1978 and was commissioned in 1987 under the Limited Duty Officer Program. He comes to the IMF with 12 years submarine repair experience and having served more than 20 years on aircraft carriers.

“It is with great pride that I take command today,” said Capt. Jones. “The two greatest challenges we face as we step into the future are to one, search out and embrace new technologies to perform more robust repairs to the systems onboard the Ohio Class Ballistic Missile Submarines, ensuring mission accomplishment until the new class of Ballistic Missile Submarine comes on line. And two, we need to develop the infrastructure and Sailor/employee level of knowledge to support the unique systems and life cycle maintenance plan for the next class of Ballistic Missile Submarines.”

On May 15, 2003, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Naval Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pacific Northwest (located at Bangor, Bremerton and Everett) consolidated into one maintenance activity – creating PSNS & IMF. The consolidation improves fleet readiness by allowing the Navy to accomplish the highest priority, real-time ship maintenance requirements while achieving the most maintenance effort possible for the tax dollar. The Commanding Officer, IMF Bangor, reports to Captain Stephen Williamson, Commander, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility.