U.S. NAVAL BASE, Guam — The Navy’s only forward-deployed, vertical-replenishment helicopter squadron, Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 5, was renamed Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 at a redesignation ceremony Thursday, a U.S. Naval Base Guam spokeswoman said.

The squadron will continue to provide logistic capability and special warfare support for the Pacific Fleet, as well as 24-hour search-and-rescue assistance for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. In the future, the unit also plans to support combat search-and-rescue missions and mine countermeasures.

The squadron, established at the former Naval Air Station on Feb. 3, 1984, was moved to Andersen Air Force Base in November 1994.

The squadron’s Island Knights includes more than 500 active-duty personnel and 14 MH-60S Knighthawks, the Navy’s newest helicopter.

The squadron’s first female commanding officer, Cmdr. Shoshana Chatfield, was the speaker at the redesignation ceremony, held in a hangar at Andersen, the spokeswoman said.

Migrated