There’s a new skipper at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base

Navy Capt. Mike Steffen had a succinct piece of advice for his replacement as the commanding officer of Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base.

“I would say hold on tight and take good care of all of the people here on the base and in Fort Worth,” Steffen said. “It’s a great job. It’s a busy job and it’s tremendously rewarding.”

Steffen, who took over in August 2015, officially handed the reigns to his successor, Navy Capt. Jonathan Townsend, inside a hangar on the base with a large U.S. flag as a backdrop. The hangar was a stand-in for a Navy ship, and commanders were “piped aboard” at the start of the ceremony.

Townsend, whose previous assignment was as special assistant under the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs and U.S. Southern Command J5, will oversee a reserve base of roughly 10,000 active-duty and reserve soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines along with civilian employees.

“This base is doing extremely well so really my number one priority is to continue to maintain the programs and garner the resources to keep this base on the course it currently is,” Townsend said.

Townsend becomes the 12th base commander since NAS Fort Worth was established in October 1994.

Both Steffen and Townsend praised the relationship among the base the surrounding cities.

It’s a far cry from the early 1990s, when Carswell Air Force Base was slated for closure.

But the Defense Department made a recommendation to move Naval Air Station Dallas to Fort Worth and consolidate commands from naval air stations from Illinois and Tennessee. On Oct. 1, 1994, Carswell became Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.

“I know the relationship is strong,” Townsend said. “It’s a mutual feeling of respect and I’m looking forward to working with everybody and continuing that.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 6:20 PM with the headline "There’s a new skipper at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base."