NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER WEAPONS DIVISION, POINT MUGU, Calif. - Cmdr. Christopher D. Dotson relieved Cmdr. Andrew J. Ballinger as the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 30 commanding officer in a change of command ceremony Nov. 9 in Point Mugu, California.

Dotson joined VX-30 in July 2016 as the squadron’s chief test pilot. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and was commissioned in the U.S. Navy through the NROTC program in 1998. He completed U.S. Navy Test Pilot School in December 2005.

Dotson has deployed three times in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn, operating from USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) in 2001 and USS Enterprise (CVN-65) in 2001 and 2011. He also deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in direct support of disaster relief and humanitarian efforts in response to the Jan. 10, 2010, earthquake in Haiti.

Ballinger is retiring after 20 years of service.