New Commander Takes Over At Naval Station Great Lakes

GREAT LAKES, IL — In a formal ceremony filled with tradition, the leadership of Naval Station Great Lakes changed hands Tuesday for the first time in near two and a half years.

Capt. Steve Yargosz officially took over command of the 1,900-acre installation from Capt. Jason Williamson, who has been commanding officer of Illinois' largest military base since May 2021.

Rear Adm. Wesley McCall, the Navy's mid-Atlantic commander, delivered the keynote address at Tuesday's change of command ceremony, which was held at the installations Seamanship Trainer.

"Events like today and many others along the way in our Navy journey are the
glue that bonds us all together," McCall said.

McCall awarded Williamson with the Legion of Merit for his 25 years of service to the Defense Department, according to a release.

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"During my career, I have been fortunate enough to be part of many highly functional organizations. I learned a lot from those tours," Williamson said. "Truly, I learned the most in this tour. This team is the best that I've had."

Williamson, a South Dakota native, became a naval aviator in June 2000 and went on to log more than 2,700 hours flying planes in maritime patrol missions. He also served on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, as an instructor pilot and as the deputy commander of a task force stationed in Japan.

Yargosz, his successor at the helm of Naval Station Great Lakes, grew up in northern Indiana and was commissioned as an officer after studying aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Purdue University.

During the change of command ceremony, Yargosz acknowledge the impact the naval station has on the development of Navy staff.

The base annually trains 39,000 recruits as sailors and 15,000 enlisted surface warfare specialists to maintain and support the Navy's supply chain.

"In his time here, over 100,000 sailors graduated from boot camp," Yargosz said, praising his predecessor as commanding officer. "That's about 40 percent of our warfighting force in enlisted service."

At Tuesday's ceremony, Yargosz also expressed gratitude to the assembled staff, commanding officers of tenant commands, executive officers, and command master chiefs.

"I appreciate your support coming here," he said.

There are more than 50 tenant commands at the base, including the Recruit Training Command, which serves as the Navy's only boot camp. It also handles 80 percent of surface warfare specialty training.

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