Capt. Matthew Kiser relinquishes command of USS Mount Whitney to Capt. Colin Price during a ceremony in Gaeta, Italy, on Jan. 31, 2025. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
GAETA, Italy — A Navy ship in service for 53 years that has been a symbol of NATO strength for nearly two decades has a new commander.
Capt. Colin Price took over command of the amphibious command ship USS Mount Whitney from Capt. Matthew Kiser during a change of command ceremony Friday in the Mediterranean Sea port city north of Naples where the ship is homeported.
A fighter pilot who most recently served as executive officer of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, Price now is in charge of a vessel that the Navy potentially seeks to decommission next year.
Vice Adm. Jeffrey Anderson, commander of U.S. 6th Fleet and Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, left, speaks with Capt. Colin Price, new commander of USS Mount Whitney, after a change of command ceremony in Gaeta, Italy, on Jan. 31, 2025. Capt. Matthew Kiser, the former commander of the ship, looks on behind them. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
Retired Navy leaders have panned the idea, saying that Mount Whitney is necessary to keep Russia in check and that the plan ignored lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.
Mount Whitney is the Navy’s fourth-oldest commissioned active ship and also the flagship of U.S. 6th Fleet.
It wasn’t clear Friday whether the decommissioning plans are still in place, but shipboard officials noted the vessel’s upcoming full schedule.
Capt. Colin Price assumes command of U.S. 6th Fleet flagship USS Mount Whitney on Jan. 31, 2025, during a ceremony in Gaeta, Italy. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
“It is the multi-use capabilities of our naval vessels to wage war as well as deliver precious cargo and then bring lasting peace that makes the maritime environment so special,” Vice Adm. Jeffrey Anderson, commander of 6th Fleet and Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, said during the ceremony.
Mount Whitney’s ability to allow him to simultaneously command U.S. and NATO forces is an increasingly important advantage in the 6th Fleet theater, which includes Europe and Africa, Anderson said.
Under the leadership of Kiser, who took command in April 2023, the ship’s crew stood up a joint task on Mount Whitney after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas.
The amphibious command ship USS Mount Whitney at its homeport in Gaeta, Italy, on Jan. 31, 2025. The flagship of U.S. 6th Fleet, Mount Whitney was commissioned in 1971 and is the fourth-oldest commissioned active ship in the Navy. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
The ship spent seven weeks at sea in the Mediterranean as the U.S. worked to keep the Israel-Hamas war from broadening.
The ship also participated in several NATO exercises and activities, including BALTOPS 2023 and 2024 and Large Scale Exercise 23, according to the Navy.
“We’ve witnessed a theater that has more conflict and a more dynamic schedule than any other area in the world,” Kiser said Friday.
His next assignment is as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.
Capt. Matthew Kiser speaks during a change of command ceremony in Gaeta, Italy on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, where he relinquished command of USS Mount Whitney to Capt. Colin Price. Kiser's next assignment is commander of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
During Price’s time aboard Eisenhower, the ship spent seven months in the Red Sea as its namesake carrier strike group battled Iran-backed Houthi militants at a pace unseen in decades.
Price also has served as executive officer and commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 154, known as the Black Knights, in Lemoore, Calif., among other assignments.
Price expects that the coming year will be busy with supporting exercises and other 6th Fleet needs. The Mediterranean continues to be an important, dynamic region with threats to NATO’s southern flank and conflict in the Middle East, he said.
Mount Whitney must “be ready ... for whatever role we need to play to make sure that (Anderson) can command and control all the forces in this region,” Price said.
