Countywide : Tustin Base Marches to New Leader

Col. Thomas A. Caughlan, executive officer of the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station, was installed as its new--and most likely last--commander in a formal ceremony Friday.

Caughlan, 47, was chosen to lead the base through its closure in 1997. He succeeds Col. William L. Hammerle, who had commanded the facility since 1993.

Symbolizing the transfer of command, Hammerle passed the Marines’ squadron flag to Caughlan during a 40-minute ceremony that included precision marching and music by the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band.

“Mine will be a smooth transition,” Caughlan said to more than 200 people attending the ceremony. Of Hammerle, he said, “Bill has put the place in good order for closure, and I intend to follow his lead.”

Hammerle’s preparation for shutdown of the Tustin station has been praised by military officials as a national model for base closures.

Hammerle, 47, has been reassigned to El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, where he will participate in the planning for that base’s closure until he retires from the Marine Corps in November. The El Toro station is set to close in 1999.

Caughlan, who has served as the Tustin base’s executive officer since September 1995, began his military career in 1971. He participated in Operation Desert Storm with the I Marine Expeditionary Force and has been awarded the Navy Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Joint Superior Service Medal.

Caughlan is the 25th commander of the station since it was recommissioned as a Marine facility in 1951 during the Korean War. The station was commissioned in 1942 as a base for helium-filled airships conducting anti-submarine patrols off the coast.