Capt. John Frye, left, Capt. Michael Luckett, center, and Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, commander of Joint Region Marianas, stand at attention during a change-of-command ceremony for Naval Base Guam, Jan. 26, 2024. (Shaina O’Neal/U.S. Navy)
A veteran submariner has taken command of U.S. Naval Base Guam as the island prepares for an influx of Marines and the development of new missile defenses.
Capt. John Frye relieved Capt. Michael Luckett on Friday during a ceremony at the Navy’s Top o’ the Mar ballroom in Asan, Guam.
The command change comes ahead of the start of a multiyear relocation of about 1,300 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to the recently constructed Camp Blaz.
It also comes amid plans to develop a 360-degree missile defense system intended to defend the heavily militarized, strategically critical island against ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles from potential adversaries such as China or North Korea.
Under Luckett, Naval Base Guam provided support to 52 Department of Defense activities and six non-DOD activities on four sites across 32,000 acres on Guam, according to a Navy account of the command change posted Monday on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
The human element, however, is the most critical line of defense for Guam, said Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, commander of Joint Region Marianas.
“We must keep uppermost in our mind that leadership remains our most important task,” he said, according to a video of the ceremony shared on the base’s official Facebook page. “The strategic importance of the work that we do here cannot be understated. This is the leading edge, and we are already in the thick of the fight.”
Capt. John Frye speaks after taking command of Naval Base Guam, Jan. 26, 2024. (Shaina O’Neal/U.S. Navy)
Later, he added: “John, I look forward to fighting that fight with you and fighting that fight together.”
This is Frye’s third assignment on the island. He commanded the submarine tender USS Frank Cable, homeported on the island, until December, and in 2010 served as executive officer of the fast-attack submarine USS City of Corpus Christi.
A native of San Diego, Fyre is “truly grateful and humbled” for the opportunity to serve on the island once again, he said during the ceremony.
His past assignments include tours aboard four submarines, including as commander of the ballistic missile submarine USS Henry M. Jackson. On shore, he served with Submarine Group Seven and several assignments with Submarine Force Pacific, including as its director of strategic forces.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a master’s in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College and is a fellow at the Defense Department’s Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, according to his Navy biography.
Luckett is retiring after three decades of service, Naval Base Guam spokeswoman Valerie Maigue told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.
Luckett, of Banning, Calif., took command of the base in May 2021. In the aftermath of Typhoon Mawar, which dealt significant damage to the island, he helped provide personnel, equipment and more than 1 million gallons of water to the off-base community.
He also oversaw nearly 2,000 ship movements and the transportation of 45 million gallons of fuel to ships with the U.S. 7th Fleet, according to the news release. But Luckett didn’t keep the credit for himself.
“It has been my honor to have had the opportunity to lead this fantastic team over the past two and a half years,” he said at the ceremony. “Each of you has played an important part in executing the mission of Naval Base Guam.”
