Coast Guard Station New York held a change of command ceremony in Staten Island, N.Y., today.

Lt. Cmdr. Jason Aleksak, who took command of Station New York in October 2009, was relieved of his duties and responsibilities by Lt. Cmdr. Bill Walsh. Walsh most recently served as an assignment officer at the Coast Guard’s Personnel Service Command in Arlington, V.A.

Aleksak will attend graduate school at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla., where he will pursue a master’s degree in Performance Technology.

With more than 140 active duty and reserve personnel, Station New York is the largest and busiest coastal multi-mission boat station in the Coast Guard.

Station boat assets log thousands of hours every year conducting homeland security, law enforcement and search and rescue missions in the waters of New York Harbor, around Staten Island, the Port of Newark, N.J., the East River, the lower Hudson River, Jamaica Bay and a portion of the lower New York Harbor below the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

The change of command ceremony is a time-honored naval tradition, which formally acknowledges the transfer of responsibility, authority and accountability from one individual to another.

Lt. Cmdr. Bill Walsh, left, relieves Lt. Cmdr. Jason Aleksak as commanding officer of Coast Guard Station New York at Staten Island, N.Y., July 13, 2012. The change of command ceremony is a time-honored naval tradition, which formally acknowledges the transfer of responsibility, authority and accountability from one individual to another. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Bradley Haines.