Rear Adm. Brett Mietus, seen here speaking at Patrol Squadron 30's headquarters on April 29, 2025, took command of Joint Region Marianas on May 29, 2025. (Curtis Spencer/U.S. Navy)
A U.S. Navy flight officer has taken command of Guam’s three major military bases and regional installations, as the island wraps up a series of significant leadership changes across its military commands.
Rear Adm. Brett Mietus took command of Joint Region Marianas on Thursday from Rear Adm. Brent DeVore during a change-of-command ceremony at Guam High School, according to a livestream of the event on the region’s Facebook page.
Mietus is the third new senior leader to take the helm on Guam this month. He joins Rear Adm. Joshua Lasky, who now leads Joint Task Force-Micronesia, and Col. Charles Cooley, the new commander of the 36th Wing.
DeVore, who took command in June 2024, is headed to San Diego to lead Expeditionary Strike Group 3. During the ceremony, he thanked his family, Guam officials and Joint Region staff for their support during what he called a pivotal year.
“The staff that we have at Joint Region Marianas is small but mighty — supporting efforts throughout not only Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, but also all of Micronesia,” he said. “Our efforts tangibly demonstrate our strength to ensure peace.”
DeVore’s tenure, though brief, oversaw a major expansion in construction across Guam’s military footprint. As of this week, the island has approximately 70 ongoing military building projects totaling around $5 billion, Pacific Daily News reported Tuesday.
Rear Adm. Brent DeVore, seen here boarding the South Korean helicopter training ship ROKS Hansando on Dec. 16, 2024, handed command of Joint Region Marianas to Rear Adm. Brett Mietus on May 29, 2025. (Samantha Jetzer/U.S. Navy)
An additional $2 billion has been allocated for infrastructure repairs following Typhoon Mawar, the Category 4 storm that struck Guam in 2023, DeVore told the newspaper.
Vice Adm. Scott Gray, head of Navy Installations Command, praised DeVore’s work under challenging conditions.
“Going into this typhoon season, we can rest assured that the harbor and our assets here will remain vital and protected,” he said during the ceremony.
Mietus most recently served as commander of the Navy’s Patrol and Reconnaissance Group based in Norfolk, Va. There, he oversaw more than 7,000 personnel on both coasts of the United States, including units at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington.
“My mission here — our mission here — is absolutely imperative,” he said during the ceremony. “That mission is to work with the people of Guam and the joint force, so that in times of peace we serve as an inspiring example of collaboration and teamwork.”
In times of conflict, he added, the mission is to defend the region and project U.S. power to uphold American and allied values.
Mietus graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1992 with a degree in economics and earned a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College in 2003, according to his Navy biography.
