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Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 8 Conducts Change of Command in San Diego
By LT Matthew “Heimi” Villedieu, USN
The “World Famous Eightballers” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Eight (HSC-8) conducted a change of command ceremony on November 21, 2024 on board Naval Air Station North Island.
CDR Ronnie “BT” Cituk, from Niskayuna, New York, stood relieved as CDR Ian “Turd Ferguson” Gill, from Norwalk, Connecticut, took the reins of the prestigious squadron to be the 60th Commanding Officer of the Eightballers. CAPT Ross “JR” Drenning, Commander Carrier Air Wing 11 (CVW-11) presided over the transfer of command.
CDR Cituk led the “Eightballers” as their Commanding Officer from August 2023 to November 2024. The Eightballers deployed from January through October 2024 and were an essential component of the U.S. Navy’s commitment to critical U.S. partners and allies in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Central Command areas of responsibility. One component of Carrier Air Wing ELEVEN (CVW-11), the Eightballers flew daily logistics and search and rescue missions in support of Carrier Strike Group NINE (CSG-9) group sail, and COMTUEX certifications in 2023 as well as the arduous nine month 2024 deployment. Commander Cituk valiantly led the “World Famous Eightballers” in the safe execution of Personnel Recovery, Logistics, and Light Attack throughout this deployment to include integrated open-ocean Personnel Recovery training events with Joint and Allied forces across a wide swath of the Western Pacific Ocean, two Strait of Hormuz transits, and the life-saving rescue of one a man overboard in the South China Sea and two Iranian mariners after their vessel sank in the Gulf of Oman.
CDR Gill assumed command of HSC-8 after serving as the Executive Officer since August 2023. Commander Gill earned his commission in May 2008 from the United States Naval Academy. He holds a Master of Systems Analysis via correspondence from the United States Naval Postgraduate School, and graduated from the United States Naval War College with distinction in 2023 with a Master of Arts in Defense and Strategic Studies. Commander Gill’s previous assignments include HSC9, HSC-3, CVW-2, and HSC-4 with numerous deployments aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).
HSC-8 executes Personnel Recovery, Logistics, Maritime Interdiction, and Light Attack in support of CVW-11 and CSG-9.
