(Tribune News Service) — Rear Adm. Stephen Barnett relinquished command of U.S. Navy Region Hawaii on Tuesday at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-­Hickam in a ceremony that for its backdrop had the USS Missouri, the USS Arizona Memorial and the visiting aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

“We have had our share of challenges over the last three-plus years, but we have also had opportunities to make things better and move forward together, ” Barnett said. “The importance of community, collaboration and relationships has never been more vital.”

Barnett assumed his command in Hawaii in June 2022. It was a time when the Navy was desperate to repair its image in Hawaii in the aftermath of the 2021 Red Hill spill that contaminated the Navy’s Oahu water system, which serves 93, 000 people.

Thousands of people, including service members, military families and local Hawaii residents on the Navy waterline reported getting sick from fuel exposure.

Commanders realized they didn’t know how to drain millions of gallons of fuel from the Red Hill fuel facility, which sits just 100 feet above a critical aquifer most of Oahu relies on for clean water. The military was trying to do that even as the Navy simultaneously worked to bolster its forces and infrastructure in the Pacific amid simmering tensions with China.

Barnett recalled that in 2021 he was overseeing Navy Region Southwest in San Diego when Adm. Samuel Paparo, the then commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, who now serves as the chief of U.S. Indo-Pacific command, reached out to him and said he wanted him to come to Hawaii for a few months.

“He reiterated ‘I only need you there for 12 months : one year.’ That was 39 months ago, ” said Barnett. “I joke about that, but in all seriousness, this is the longest place that (my wife ) Elaine and I have ever been since 1987. So this is de facto our home.”

Of the U.S. military branches, the Navy has the largest presence in Hawaii. The federal government estimates that the Navy spends as much as $1 billion on salaries in Hawaii and $1 billion in operations, contracts and local purchases.

Barnett oversaw shoreside operations at Pearl Harbor as well as operations at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai. The job included maintenance and operations of facilities along with working with local and state officials.

In addition to holding the position of commander of Navy Region Hawaii, he also became commander of Navy Closure Task Force-Red Hill after a task force led by Vice Adm. John Wade successfully oversaw the draining of the Red Hill fuel tanks. While the fuel has been removed, the issue is far from settled. The closure and remediation of the facility is expected to take years and cost untold millions.

Last month the Honolulu Board of Water Supply filed a nearly 100-page federal civil tort complaint in the U.S. District Court of Hawaii in which it said it is suing the Navy “for negligence, nuisance, and trespass resulting in damages where the government of the United States of America, if a private party, would be liable to the BWS.” BWS has estimated the cost of past, current and future impacts from the fuel leaks at $1.2 billion.

Vice Adm. Scott Gray, commander of Navy Installations Command, attended the ceremony, where he said that Barnett “really had a tough job here. There’s so much going on as we prepare for what’s coming in the Pacific.”

Tensions have been on the rise in the Pacific as Beijing spars with neighboring countries over territorial and navigation rights in the South China Sea, a busy waterway that more than a third of all international trade moves through and that the Chinese government has claimed as its exclusive sovereign territory.

The Chinese military also has stepped up maneuvers around Taiwan, a self-ruled island democracy that Beijing regards as rogue province. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has reportedly tasked Chinese military brass with ensuring their forces have the capability to invade the island by 2027 — though analysts have debated whether that directive actually means he intends to launch such an invasion.

Adm. Stephen Koehler, current U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, said that under Barnett’s leadership “Region Hawaii has spent the last several years evolving and growing every day. It has expanded support to our fleet and families across all its various missions and operations. Region Hawaii’s serv ­ice to the fleet helps us defend our homeland and our way of life … make no mistake, Hawaii is vital to America’s ability to project, direct and sustain combat power across the vast expanses of the Indo-Pacific, if and when required.”

Barnett’s replacement, Rear Adm. Brad Collins, most recently served as commander of U.S. Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central—which is headquartered in Italy.

Gray said that from there, Collins “managed the only permanent installation we have on the continent of Africa, contingency locations in Somalia, our bases in the Middle East during the recent war and all the things that went on there, our support to Ukraine and everything that’s happening in Europe. He’s definitely the right guy to take over.”

“I am immensely honored to be your commander, and I am here to advocate, nonstop, for the elimination of barriers that stand in the way of progress and to clear the path needed to accomplish the mission, ” Collins said. “There is no promise that this task will be easy, but I am confident that we have the people and talent to drive toward the solutions needed.”

Barnett will be reporting to Norfolk, Va., and assume command of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic. He will serve as regional coordinator for all shore-based Navy personnel and shore activities in the U.S. Navy’s Mid-­Atlantic region, which encompasses 20 states, 13 installations, and numerous Navy Reserve Centers from Maine to Virginia and as far west as Illinois. Among his tasks will be overseeing renovations to some of the serv ­ice’s oldest infrastructure.

© 2025 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Visit www.staradvertiser.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.