MANAMA, Bahrain – Coalition Task Force (CTF) Sentinel held a change of command ceremony between two British officers at Naval Support Activity Bahrain March 30.

Commodore Craig Wood CBE, Royal Navy, transferred the responsibility to Commodore Adrian Fryer, Royal Navy, to lead the operational arm of the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC), which is a coalition currently comprised of eight member nations:  Albania, Bahrain, Estonia, Lithuania, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“To witness and be a part of the seamless cooperation of such a diversity of maritime professionals has been truly incredible,” said Wood.

“It has been an honour to serve as a custodian of this multinational team’s talent and expertise.”

In spite of enduring threats, Commodore Wood built upon CTF Sentinel operations by employing over 79 unique ships assigned from 5 nations during his tenure. He led continual efforts to display the credibility of task force deterrence measures and directed the execution of several operations in the Arabian Gulf that reassured industry partners of the current state of maritime security.

"The saying is ‘Each commander should look to move the ball 10 yards in a thread of command,’ and for you, Craig, during your time I give you credit for a full twenty.” said Vice Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.

“Commodore Craig Wood, you depart CTF Sentinel a better, more effective Task Force and really ready to defend freedom of navigation through the personal touch and your intellect, your energy, your dynamism, your optimism.”

Commodore Wood oversaw more than 19,000 collective hours of coverage by major warships and partner nation patrol vessels and nearly 14,000 hours of aircraft reconnaissance flights, ensuring the incident-free transit of over 1,000 IMSC-flagged merchant vessels with a total carrying capacity of nearly 100,000,000 tons through the highly contested maritime choke points of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait during a period of significant international political unrest.

During the nearly five months of Commodore Wood’s tenure, the task force has deepened relationships across partner navies and the coalition’s relationship with the shipping industry.

“Our recent Stakeholders Conference, CTF Sentinel’s flagship industry symposium, drew three times the amount of industry participation as its 2020 iteration, reflecting the ever-growing commitment to regional maritime security. Additionally, through recurrent naval exercises we have integrated partner nation ships at sea, command centers, and our headquarters staff,” said Wood.

“I am confident that Adrian, my good friend and colleague, is more than capable of leading this exceptional team to higher heights.”

Commodore Fryer, a surface warfare officer of more than 30 years of experience, has commanded warships on operations around the world to include the patrol ships HMS TYNE and HMS CLYDE in 2011 and HMS DAUNTLESS in 2012. Fryer joins CTF Sentinel after extensive experience with working in the Joint environment and after successful command of the Royal Navy’s Patrol and Underwater Exploration and Diving mission.

“The task force has demonstrated the ability to consistently deter state-sponsored malign activity in this region as shown by the fact that since its inception no IMSC-flagged commercial vessel has been substantially threatened or illegally boarded by an adversary,” said Fryer.

“I am excited to help ensure we maintain and build upon our edge through empowering this team and continuing to deepen our military and industry cooperation as we work to deter and expose efforts to undermine the rules based international system on which our global economy relies.”

More than 17,000 ships per year pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and more than 42,000 ships per year pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Any restrictions of these waterways result in international consequences, impacting economies all over the globe.

Coalition Task Force Sentinel, the operational arm of the International Maritime Security Construct, is a multinational maritime effort to promote freedom of navigation and reassure merchant shipping by deterring and exposing state-sponsored malign activity that threatens security of the maritime commons in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Southern Red Sea.

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