The departing commanding officer of the Fleet Readiness Center East thanked managers and a legion of professionals for “chasing perfection” during a change-of-command ceremony recently at the Cherry Point aircraft repair and maintenance facility.

“You did it. Not me. You did it,” said Col. Mitchell Bauman.

Bauman, husband of the former Anne Cofield of Suffolk, spent 32 years as a Marine aviator. He said the three priorities that guided his life and career were his faith, family and the United States Marine Corps.

“The F-35B Lightning II jet fighter is going to show up here in your back yard this summer. You can’t get much better than this,” Bauman told a large portion of the 3,300 employees of the facility, which sprawls across 150 acres at the Marine Corps Air Station.

“You have set the bar high,” said Rear Adm. C.J. Jaynes, commander of Fleet Readiness Centers, in congratulating Bauman on his time at FRC East. “You have shown a tremendous will to win. You have made a difference.”

Guest speaker George J. Trautman III, a retired Marine lieutenant general, described Bauman as a “fiercely compassionate leader” with “incredible insight and skill” who is “solid, practical and still a farm boy at heart.”

Trautman said two of the most important contributions Bauman made to Marine Corps aviation were the ongoing transition from the CH-46 Frog to the MV-22 Osprey and from the AV-8B Harrier to the Joint Strike Fighter.

“He’s a data-driven problem solver who knows how to ask the right questions and then follow through to ensure success,” Trautman said. “He has a distinct disdain for the status quo.”

Bauman was credited with improving safety, shortening turnaround times and lowering costs at the facility.

Bauman told those at Thursday’s ceremony that FRC East workers compared him to Captain Ahab from the novel “Moby Dick” at a recent retirement party. The employees gave him a standing ovation.