Cmdr. Douglas Huggan, who has a long and illustrious career with the Navy, serving on three continents in five countries and six states, had led NSA Panama City since July 2015.

NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY I relieve you sir.

With those words, command over Naval Support Activity Panama City passed from Cmdr. Douglas Huggan, known as Huggie to friends and associates, to Cmdr. Jay Sego in a simple but tradition-steeped ceremony Friday morning.

Huggan, who has a long and illustrious career with the Navy, serving on three continents in five countries and six states, had led NSA Panama City since July 2015. Capt. Stephen Barnett, the chief of staff for the Navys Southeast Region, and retired Navy Capt. Dennis Warren were among a dozen military and local officials on hand to wish Huggan fair winds on his retirement and return to Oklahoma, where he attended the University of Oklahomaand met his wife, Inge, more than 20 years ago.

Huggie has made a really big impact on the community during his command, Barnett said, adding that Huggans name is synonymous with pride in the community.

Warren, who has known Huggan for 17 years after they met at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, said the Navy and the country as a whole are better because of Huggans service. From a hockey-playing kid from Boston to safely landing a Cessna aircraft with his family on board when its engine seized, to turning a small naval air operation in Japan into a major international airport after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Warren commended Huggan for his lifetime of dedication and service.

Doug, Warren said, you will now be known as Skipper by those who served with you for the rest of your life.

Sego, who like Huggan is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, hails originally from Fayetteville, Ark. He comes to Panama City from Duke University, where he was a public policy fellow at the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Defense. He has worked at the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and with legislators developing defense policy. He also has completed numerous deployments during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as a deployment in the South China Sea.

Im truly and extremely blessed with this opportunity to join Naval Support Activity Panama City, Sego said. Im dedicated to giving you my all.

Sego said he was extremely excited to start working with the talented team at NSA Panama City, saying the bases stellar reputation is well known throughout the country.

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Huggan retires, hands over command of NSA Panama City - The News Herald