Lt. Col. William L. DePue, Jr. relinquished his duties as the commanding officer of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 to Lt. Col. Christopher M. Murray during a change of command ceremony at the squadron’s hangar on Marine Corps Air Station Futenma May 22.

DePue was the first commander of VMM-265, after the squadron was redesignated from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265 in September 2012. DePue lead the introduction of the MV-22B Osprey to Okinawa by demonstrating the aircraft’s capabilities in numerous training exercises throughout the Asia-Pacific region as well as participation in Operation Damayan in the Republic of the Philippines November 2013.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the support we provided to the disaster relief in the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan where hundreds of thousands of people received aid” said DePue. “My squadron was at least a small part of that.”

After thanking many who supported him during his tenure, DePue introduced Murray who made a few opening remarks.

“As you know, we’ve had an alliance with the country of Japan for a number of years” Murray said. “We owe it to the people of Japan to provide the most capable, technically advanced platforms that we can, and that’s the Osprey.”

Murray’s previous duty assignment was as a special staff officer for the Group Commander of Marine Aircraft Group 36.