In a ceremony July 13, Capt. James Stone relieved Capt. Kenneth Voorhees as commanding officer of Intermediate Maintenance Facility (IMF), Bangor.

“Capt. Voorhees’ leadership led the way to outstanding results and mission accomplishment,” said guest speaker William Ryzewic, deputy chief of staff for fleet maintenance, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

He added that Voorhees had led a well-respected, very successful maintenance team that had maintained the Bangor-based TRIDENT submarine fleet in superior material condition. 

“Your challenges were not to sustain its performance, but to make it even better with the professionalism and the dedication of this Bangor team,” he said.  “Because you folks are so good at what you do, we couldn’t make it easy for you. We had to send you two more boomers up here (referring to the arrival of USS Maine and USS Louisiana) just to see if you could do it, and do it even better, and better you have been,” he concluded.

Capt. Stone comes to IMF from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where he served as the deputy commander of Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility.

“To my superiors in command and especially those that I command, know that my confidence and expectations in you continue to be as high as I know you are extremely proud of your track record,” said Stone upon assuming command.  “I am humbled by your incredible work, reputation and ability to keep the TRIDENTS at sea. It is a great honor that I assume the watch as the 14th commanding officer of this wonderful IMF, in my opinion, a national treasure.”

Voorhees, who assumed his post as commanding officer of IMF in July 2005, will become the director for Maintenance and Material Readiness, Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (N4), Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.