Diligence gets new Commander Thursday

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A change of command ceremony will take place Thursday on the Coast Guard Cutter Diligence. Cmdr. Douglas Goodwin will relieve Cmdr. Harry Schmidt.

The Coast Guard says during Schmidt’s two-year assignment, the Diligence took part in six search and rescue cases saving 12 lives, disrupted the delivery of 2.3 metric tons of cocaine and interdicted and processed over 30 illegal migrants

Cmdr. Schmidt will report to the office of law enforcement at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, DC, and lead the drug and migrant interdiction divisions.

Schmidt returned to command of the Diligence last month after being temporarily reassigned while the Coast Guard investigated a grounding of the ship earlier this year.