BREMERTON — Rear Admiral (Select) Mark R. Whitney will be relieved by Captain Stephen F. Williamson as Commander of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, in a ceremony at PSNS & IMF, in Bremerton at 1 p.m. Friday.

During the ceremony, Vice Admiral Kevin M. McCoy, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command, will promote Whitney to rear admiral lower half. Whitney, the 47th Commander, assumed command of PSNS & IMF May 23, 2008. His next duty assignment will be Deputy Commander, Logistics, Maintenance and Industrial Operations, Naval Sea Systems Command, in Washington, D.C.

From Bowie, Md., Williamson is a 1988 graduate from the University of Maryland,  College Park, with an economics degree, and was commissioned through the George Washington University Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Program. He later earned his Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering while attending the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

Williamson was previously assigned as the Operations Officer for PSNS & IMF, a position held from July 2011 until March 2012. He also served as the Command’s Business and Strategic Planning Officer from July 2009 until June 2010, and Production Resouces Officer from June 2010 until June 2011. Upon assumption of command, Williamson will become the 48th Commander of PSNS & IMF.

PSNS & IMF provides the Navy with maintenance and modernization support from its sites in Bremerton, Bangor and Everett, Wash.; San Diego, Calif.; Guam; and Japan.