 Crew members of USS Cowpens and USS Antietam patiently wait to board their new homes as their commanding officers exchange honors during a hull swap ceremony. The Cowpens and Antietam hull swap is part of the Navy's long range plan to upgrade the guided missile cruiser class of ships and put the most capable units forward in this region. Antietam, along with more than 200 new crew members, will replace the Cowpens, which has served more than a decade of forward deployed naval service. It's been a great exchange of command. Both crews have worked really extremely well together and couldn't have asked for a better ship and a better turnover as far as this process went. Navy ships are required to periodically rotate in and out of the Pacific area of responsibility in order to maintain a required level of combat readiness. Petty Officer Michael Storey, Yacosca Naval Base, Japan.