Sanders takes command at SPAWAR Atlantic

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Capt. Wesley Sanders has taken over command of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic from Capt. Scott Heller.

Heller commanded SPAWAR’s Atlantic division since July 2015 and is retiring with more than 30 years of naval service, according to a news release. His most recent tour as commanding officer of SSC Atlantic was his third assignment to the center.

“Out of 325 million Americans, 14,000 government civilians, uniformed military and contractors contribute to SSC Atlantic,” Heller said in the release, adding, “That’s 0.004% of Americans who are on this team. The entire nation is more dependent on your efforts for their security than most will ever know. This is a large, hidden responsibility and you carry it well.”

Vice Adm. David Lewis, former commander of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and currently director of the Defense Contract Management Agency, praised Heller for his tenure, saying, “Under Capt. Heller’s leadership, SSC Atlantic has delivered on its commitments and produced the results warfighters need. You are way ahead of the power curve. Your stuff works. When there is an install, the equipment is on the pier and the people are there to carry through on the commitment.”

Sanders, who is SSC Atlantic’s fifth commanding officer, comes to the center after serving as chief of staff at Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers in Patuxent River, Md.

An Albany, Ga., native, Sanders was commissioned out of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Jacksonville University in Florida in 1993 and was designated a naval flight officer in July 1996.

From 2013 to 2015, Sanders served as an industrial production support and compliance officer at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest; he previously served as an executive officer, then as commanding officer, at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, at Fleet Readiness Center Western Pacific from 2010 to 2013.

As commanding officer of SPAWAR Atlantic, Sanders leads approximately 4,450 civil service employees, 125 military personnel and 9,000 industry partners at the center’s headquarters in the Lowcountry and at its sites in Hampton Roads, Va., New Orleans, Tampa, Fla., Washington, D.C., and overseas in Europe, the Middle East and Antarctica.