Newport, R.I. – Family, staff, students and guests witnessed a time-honored military tradition, the change of command, at Surface Warfare Schools Command (SWSC) in Newport, Rhode Island, March 1, 2024.

Commander, Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Brendan McLane presided over the ceremony where Capt. Joseph A. Baggett relieved Capt. Brian T. Mutty as SWSC’s commanding officer.

SWSC prepares Navy officer, enlisted, civilian and international personnel to serve in a wide variety of challenging billets at sea. At 21 learning sites around the world, nearly 1,500 military, civilian and contractor personnel provide the fleet with engineering, damage control, firefighting, and navigation training for over 85,000 Sailors and officers annually through 249 courses of instruction. SWSC’s largest learning site, Surface Warfare Engineering School Great Lakes, offers apprentice training for accession surface engineers and quartermasters. In Newport, SWSC instructs officers in leadership, management, navigation, seamanship, shiphandling, engineering and maritime warfighting.

Under Mutty’s leadership, Mariner Skills Training Center Pacific in San Diego and Mariner Skills Training Center Atlantic in Norfolk reached full operational capability in new, state-of-the-art facilities. The centers provide the surface fleet training on the waterfront to sharpen navigation, seamanship and shiphandling skills. His staff also oversaw the addition of new Integrated Navigation, Seamanship, and Shiphandling Trainers (I-NSSTs), a critical component of the Mariner Skills Training Program, in fleet concentration areas. The Mayport I-NSST achieved ready-for-training status in November 2023, with trainers at other locations on track for later this year, significantly improving the fleet’s ability to train on the waterfront and continue to hone skillsets learned both in the schoolhouse and afloat.

Following the change of command, Mutty was promoted to rear admiral lower half. He reports next to Allied Joint Force Command, Naples, Italy, as the J3 assistant chief of staff.

Mutty, a native of Portsmouth, Virginia, graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and enlisted in the Navy in 1992. He earned his commission in 1995 through the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School at Pensacola, Florida. His assignments at sea included USS Bainbridge (CGN 25) as a nuclear-trained machinist's mate and then aboard USS Laboon (DDG 58), USS Austin (LPD 4), USS Cole (DDG 67) and USS Ross (DDG 71). He was the executive officer and then commanding officer of USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) and commanding officer of USS Essex (LHD 2). Ashore, he served as a requirements officer for the littoral combat ship (LCS) on the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV) N86 staff; the chief plans policy branch of the Joint Staff, J-7, Operational War Plans Division; director, Joint Maritime Operations and chief of staff for Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense; deputy director of Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center Integrated Air and Missile Defense Division; deputy director of Military Personnel, Plans and Policy for OPNAV N1; and executive assistant to the Chief of Naval Personnel.

Baggett, a native of Wilmington, North Carolina, enlisted in the Navy in 1993 and earned his commission in 1998 through Old Dominion University. As a career surface warfare officer, his shipboard assignments as a division officer and department head included USS Klakring (FFG 42), USS Stout (DDG 55), USS Barry (DDG 52) and USS Anzio (CG 68). He served as commanding officer of USS Truxton (DDG 103) and USS Monterey (CG 61). Ashore, he served as lead exercise planner in the Future Plans Center on the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT)/U.S. 5th Fleet staff, lead requirements officer for the LCS Mine Warfare Mission Package for the OPNAV staff, and as operations officer for the Deployable Training Division on the Joint Staff – J7 branch. Most recently, he served as the chief of staff for NAVCENT/ U.S. 5th Fleet.

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