Two-Star Promotion via Video Teleconference
By Lt. Denver Applehans, Combined Task Force 76 Public Affairs Officer
Posted: 02/1/2008

NAVAL FACILITY WHITE BEACH, Okinawa, Japan – At a ceremony on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Carol M. Pottenger, was promoted to the grade of Rear Admiral (Upper Half) in the first ever Combined Task Force 76 Video Teleconference promotion ceremony. 

CTF-76 personnel are forward deployed to two locations, the Headquarters is on Okinawa with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and the Detachment is in Sasebo, Japan allowing them to work closely with the maintenance facilities for the forward deployed ships of CTF-76 in Sasebo.

The ceremony, which pinned on Pottenger's second star, was conducted on a video teleconference between the CTF-76 Headquarters building at Naval Facility White Beach on Okinawa and the detachment in Sasebo.

Before her own pinning, RADM Pottenger lead LT Edward J. Twigg, CTF-76 Force Protection Officer and part of the Sasebo detachment, through his Oath of Office for promotion to lieutenant commander on the other end of the video teleconference.

Fellow officers in Sasebo pinned Twigg’s new rank insignia.

RADM Pottenger also took the opportunity to present four medals to members of her command as well as an Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist qualification pin to Information Systems Technician Seaman (SW) Nina M. Ritchie. 

Michael Condon, RADM Pottenger’s husband, pinned on one side of her rank insignia and former Flag Lieutenant Lt. Richard Harrington pinned on the other.

RADM Pottenger thanked her command, on both sides of the VTC, for the outstanding work they have done for her in her tenure as Commander of the U.S. Navy’s only forward deployed Expeditionary Strike Group and presented each Sailor in attendance with one of her coins. 

“We are one team in two locations,” Pottenger said of the VTC, “It’s great to be able to share moments like these with the entire team, everyone works together to make this task force the superb warfighting organization it is.”

Pottenger assumed command of Amphibious Force 7th Fleet on Nov. 20, 2006 at White Beach, Okinawa aboard USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49). CTF-76 is the Navy’s only forward-deployed amphibious force. 
-USN-