Mundy Hands Over Reigns of CTF-51 to Donovan

By Commander Task Force 51 Public Affairs | June 23, 2016

MANAMA, Bahrain --

Commander, Task Force (CTF) 51 and Commander, 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (5th MEB) held a change-of-command ceremony at Naval Support Activity Bahrain, June 23.

Brig. Gen. Francis L. Donovan relieved Maj. Gen. Carl E. Mundy, III as commander of the blue-green team.   

During his farewell remarks, Mundy expressed gratitude for the hard work and dedication exhibited by the Navy-Marine Corps teams he commanded. 
 
“I want to thank those men and women, some of whom are here, and there’s another 7,500 personnel behind them that really deserve my thanks, and each one of them has an individual story,” said Mundy. “They really represent what we have here in this blended organization in terms of talent and also courage.”

Besides the Bahrain-based staff, Mundy was also responsible for forward-deployed forces such as the amphibious ready groups and embarked Marine expeditionary units (ARG/MEUs) operating in the 5th Fleet area of operations, and the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force (SP-MAGTF) operating in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

“I leave with the sincere belief that anything is possible and that we can worry less about the color of the uniform and more about getting the job done, working together both with our coalition partners, as well as different services to make things happen,” said Mundy.

Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, commended Mundy for his dedication in leading – and integrating – two very distinct commands through some of the region’s most challenging missions. CTF-51 and 5th MEB began combing staffs and functions earlier this year, with the goal of being fully integrated by the end of 2016. Some of the missions Mundy oversaw included providing support to the Saudi-led coalition’s efforts to stabilize Yemen and ensuring maritime security off that country’s coast.

“This change of command is very symbolic of Sam Mundy’s work, where he has taken and blended together the best of the Marine Corps and best of the U.S. Navy and excelled,” said Donegan. “He’s raised the bar in terms of warfighting and mission accomplishment.”

Mundy reports next to U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, as its next commander.
Donovan comes to CTF-51 from the Joint Staff as the division chief for the Transregional Threats Coordination Cell. He previously commanded the 24th MEU.

Donegan emphasized Donovan’s experience as an operator and a combat-proven leader.

“Gen. Donovan is the right leader to continue the successes of Task Force 51 and I have no doubt he’ll continue the already successful story of an integrated blue-green team,” he said.
 

CTF-51 provides command and control over ARG/MEUs, the afloat forward staging base ship USS Ponce (AFSB(I) 15), and the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team, all deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. The 5th MEB provides command and control of Marine forces deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility for theater security cooperation, crisis response and contingency operations.