The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) held a change of command ceremony in Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, August 29.
Capt. Bryan E. Geisert relieved Capt. Adam G. Cheatham as the commanding officer aboard Shiloh. Cheatham assumed command of Shiloh in October 2021. His next tour will be at Commander, Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific.
Geisert’s sea duty tours include USS Milius (DDG 69), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS George Washington (CVN 73), and USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) where he was awarded the Commander, Destroyer Squadron (COMDESRON) 21 Junior Officer Award for Excellence in Tactics. Most recently, he commanded the USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108). His shore duties include J5 planner for the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps and the chief of staff at the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) in Little Creek, Virginia.
“I am humbled and honored to be the 19th Commanding Officer of USS Shiloh,” said Geiser. “Your professionalism, teamwork, warfighting prowess, your experiences coming together as a team is truly impressive; and I am very fired up to be part of it.”
“It is truly an honor to have served as captain of this amazing warship for the past 34 months,” said Cheatham. “You have spent a tremendous amount of blood and sweat because you executed the extraordinary task of keeping this 32 year-old ship operational, yet you remained strong. That strength is an embodiment of this ship’s namesake. Like the soldiers of the Battle of Shiloh, it is only through the strength and hard work of you, the crew of Shiloh, that this ship has been as successful as it has been.”
Commander, Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific Capt. Joseph Ring also addressed the crew. “Shiloh is manned with some of the very best of America’s maritime streetfighters… Shiloh and her surface warriors, I hope, will be put onto the battlefield first because they will deliver,” he said. “For the last 34 months under Capt. Cheatham’s command, she operated in every body of water conducting various operations with great class, professionalism, and expertise.”
Ring told Cheatham, “You have taken great care of Shiloh and her crew and executed every mission, we are all so grateful for everything you’ve done. Congratulations on a very successful command of a cruiser.”
In 2022, from November to December, Shiloh escorted the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and again from June to August, in 2023. Shiloh also conducted missions in the Philippine Sea, Guam, Sea of Japan, South Pacific Sea in vicinity of Fiji, and in Hawaii Operational Area. These were multinational exercises strengthening relations and ensuring maritime stability and security in the region. In September of 2023, Shiloh successfully conducted a homeport shift to Hawaii, after being stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, for the past 17 years.
Shiloh is homeported in Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Shiloh is assigned to Commander, Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific, a combat ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interest of its allies and partners in the region.