Roberts Relieves Goldman at Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jason Swink

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Capt. Michael Martin relieved Capt. Howard Goldman as commanding officer of Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific (NSTCP) and Training Support Department (TSD) Hawaii in a time-honored change of command ceremony atop the historic Battleship Missouri Memorial, the "Mighty MO."

NSTCP is comprised of 90 permanently-assigned officers and enlisted instructors and 30 civilians and government contractors who oversee more than 800,000-square-feet of training spaces and simulators where they train more than 25,000 Sailors each year.

Guest speaker Capt. David Roberts, the commanding officer of Submarine Learning Center, said he is one of Goldman's biggest fans as he spoke of NSTCP's accomplishments during the last three years.

"I want to thank you for your passion in training, your passion for submariners, your incredible talent and strong leadership during your tenure here," said Roberts.

Under Goldman's leadership, NSTCP received numerous awards and accolades including retention excellence awards in 2011 and 2012, and was a driving force in the rapid build-up of a new schoolhouse in Guam.

"On his watch, Howard brought new capability to his school to support newly reporting Virginia-class submarines including trainers and curricula," said Roberts. "With the assistance of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, he built a new state-of-the-art submarine bridge trainer with its IMAX theater-like immersive training capability to better simulate surfaced submarine operations."

Goldman during his parting remarks thanked several dozen individuals and organizations by name for their support.

"To those I have served for, thank you for your mentorship and your teaching. To those who I have served with, thank you very much for your friendship," said Goldman. "Most importantly, to those who have served me, my crew, thank you for everything. Without you, none of this would have been possible."

Goldman was presented the Legion of Merit for his leadership, vision and boundless energy during his tenure.

As Martin assumed command, he thanked Goldman for setting him up for success.

"You have established programs, processes, and most importantly, a culture of knowledge and desire to support the waterfront in the NSTCP team," said Martin.

Martin went on to address the officers, Sailors and civilian staff of NSTCP, challenging them to do three things.

"Be the expert in your profession. Learn something new about your craft every day. Impart that knowledge on the fleet," said Martin. "If you execute those three things each and every day, you will allow our command to continue to excel and most importantly, grow."

NSTCP provides training to all U.S. submarine crews in Pearl Harbor and to visiting submariners from allied nations in the Pacific, including Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Australia. In addition, NSTCP maintains a detachment of instructors in Guam who provide training to U.S. submariners based in Guam and submariners visiting Guam while deployed to the Western Pacific.