Region Legal Service Office Southeast (RLSO SE) held a change of command ceremony on August 11 at the Ocean Breeze Conference Center aboard Naval Air Station Mayport.

Rear Adm. David G. Wilson, Commander, Naval Legal Service Command, presided over the ceremony in which Capt. Tanya M. Cruz was relieved by Capt. Katherine S. Pasieta as Commanding Officer of RLSO SE.

During the ceremony, Cruz thanked her Sailors for a rewarding tour and acknowledged her family's support throughout the years.

Cruz will assume duties as the OJAG Code 61 Military Personnel Division Director.

Pasieta joins RLSO SE having just completed her tour at the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as Deputy Legal Counsel.

"The challenges we face in the next few years will not be the same as the past, but the fighting spirit of the Navy will not change," said Pasieta. "That is the fighting spirit in each one of you. You are the next generation of legal professionals who will lead our Navy whether in the courtroom, the office, overseas and at sea. I am honored to be given the opportunity to lead you.”

Pasieta graduated from the University of Chicago with an honors bachelor’s degree in political science and then graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of San Diego School of Law. In 2013, she graduated with distinction from the Georgetown University Law Center with a Master of Laws in National Security Law and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College. She was commissioned as an officer in the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps through the Student Program in 2001.

RLSO SE supports the operational readiness of Department of the Navy assets in the Southeastern United States by providing responsive, timely, and accurate legal guidance, support services, and training in military justice, legal assistance, and administrative law.