LHA Deputy Executive Director Takes Navy Command

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Navy Expeditionary Reload Battalion TEN (NERB-10) held a change of command ceremony Aug. 1 at Navy Expeditionary Logistics Group (NAVELSG), Cheatham Annex in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Commander Steven W. Harrell, of Pembroke, assumed command of NERB-10 from Commander Eric Ray, during the ceremony, marking the formal transfer of leadership, authority and responsibility for the battalion.

Harrell previously served as NAVELSG Deputy Plans Officer and recently returned from a 14-month deployment (2024-2025) as the Commander, Task Group 56.3 - Navy Expeditionary Logistics-Forward supporting Naval Central Command/Commander FIFTH Fleet in the Middle East.

"Thank you to Commander Ray for his leadership over the past two years," said Harrell. "He has set this battalion up for continued success as we move into a new focus on combat sustainment. I'm excited for the opportunity to work with and lead the sailors of this historic battalion and its mission to enable our forward deployed surface combatants stay in the fight longer."

Navy Expeditionary Reload Battalion TEN is a commissioned operational unit of 50 active duty and 500 reserve sailors across six geographically dispersed companies throughout the United States and deployed globally. NERB-10 is headquartered at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Virginia, and is the only expeditionary command that specializes in rapidly deploying equipment and personnel responsible for the reloading of vertical launch system ordnance onto surface combatants in expeditionary, non-standard ports throughout the world.

Harrell is also the deputy executive director of the Lumberton Housing Authority. He was accompanied at the change of command ceremony by his wife SunSarae, a social worker with the Public Schools of Robeson County, and daughter Pyper, a senior at Purnell Swett High School.

Source:  The Robesonian, 12 August 2026 (https://www.robesonian.com/news/426647/harrell-takes-command-of-naval-reserve-battalion)