Commander Christy Sibley was humbled as she handed over command of Naval Technical Training Center at Naval Air Station Meridian to Commander Karen J. Teague  during a ceremony at the Navy Reserve Center Friday. 

“What a privilege it was to serve you,” said Sibley, who has served as commanding officer of the center since April 2020.

As commanding officer, Sibley led four officers, 60 enlisted, 23 civilian personnel, and 30 contractors in executing a $1.4 million annual operating budget and maintaining physical assets valued at $74 million to become the premier schoolhouse in the Naval Education and Training Command. 

“Being a part of the military services, we get to move on and experience new things, but it’s also the worst part because it’s hard to leave the people and the mission behind,” said Sibley. 

“It’s the people I will miss the most,” she added. “It’s the people that make every day for me. Sometimes a challenge but always a rewarding experience. When we tackle anything, we tackle it together, and you cannot put a price on that.”

Teague, a native of Oakdale, California, graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Biology. 

She earned a Master of Science in Operations Research at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, completed JPME Level I, and a Foundations of Executive Leadership certificate from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Commander Teague also received her commission through the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps from the University of California at Berkeley in June 2006. Friday she became the 25th commanding officer of Naval Technical Training Center Meridian.

“It is an amazing feeling, and I could not ask for a better team to be a leader for,” Teague said. “The things that the people do here will never be written in the history books, but yet the impact they have is profound.”