New London — The Leadership Development Center was established as a command on Thursday, a change that was touted as a better way to teach the Coast Guard's leaders.

Since its inception, the LDC has been a division of the Coast Guard Academy. The center, which teaches thousands of Coast Guard members each year how to be better leaders, became the eighth major training command under the Force Readiness Command, headquartered in Norfolk, Va., which manages the Coast Guard's overall training system.

The center will remain on the academy grounds. The ceremony was held on the steps of Yeaton Hall, the same place where the ceremony to open the center was held 15 years ago.

Capt. Andrea Marcille, director of the LDC, became the center's first commanding officer. She called it "an exceptional day for leadership development in the Coast Guard."

Marcille said before the ceremony that the transition should be seamless, and students should not notice a difference. But by closely linking the center to the rest of the training system, the eight commands can share best practices, standardize procedures and collectively do things better, she added.

"This makes the most sense because 90 percent of what the LDC does is train the Coast Guard workforce, not the cadets. And the rest of the training system, they train the workforce as well," she said, adding that the change also shows the Coast Guard's commitment to leadership development.

Rear Adm. Sandra L. Stosz, the academy superintendent, told the audience about the history of the center before Rear Adm. Scott A. Buschman, commander of the Force Readiness Command, spoke to welcome the center to his team.

Buschman said he was looking forward to working with the center to "give our personnel the full kit of tools they need to lead our Coast Guard into the future."

j.mcdermott@theday.com