Rear Adm. Townsend Alexander will be replaced by Rear Adm. Dixon Smith as commander of Navy Region Hawai'i and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific in a ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday at Pearl Harbor.

Alexander serves as the regional coordinator for all shore-based naval personnel and shore activities in Hawai'i as well as being responsible for the maintenance and training of the 11 surface ships homeported in Pearl Harbor.

Alexander's next assignment will be as commander of Navy Region Southeast, which encompasses Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as the Caribbean, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

Smith previously served as commanding officer of Naval Base San Diego. Smith was raised in Greens Farms, Conn. He received his commission from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1983, and was designated a surface warfare officer in 1985.