Press Release Date: June 27, 2005
Contact: Fifth District Public Affairs
757-398-6272

NEW ADMIRAL TO TAKE OVER HELM OF FIFTH DISTRICT COAST GUARD

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - The Fifth District Coast Guard will welcome a new district commander during a change of command ceremony at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the High Street Ferry Landing.

Rear Admiral Sally Brice-O'Hara will be relieved by Rear Adm. Larry Hereth as the Fifth District Commander.

Vice Admiral Vivian S. Crea, the Coast Guard Atlantic Area Commander, will preside.

Rear Admiral Hereth, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1973 with a bachelor of science. He also earned a master's degree in business administration from Florida Institute of Technology.

Rear Admiral Hereth comes to the Fifth District command from his assignment as the director of port security in the Marine Safety, Security and Environmental Protection Directorate at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

As the director of port security, Rear Admiral Hereth was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Coast Guard port security mission and coordinating activities with other Coast Guard programs, government agencies and industry to improve Maritime Homeland Security.

In previous assignments, Rear Admiral Hereth has served as commanding officer of of Marine Safety Office San Francisco Bay, commanding officer of Gulf Strike Team, Mobile, Ala.; chief of port operations in New Orleans; and chief of the National Marine Environmental Response School where he supervised all the pollution response courses and directed a national exercise program.

Rear Admiral Hereth is married to the former Kathy Hays of Hillsboro, Oregon.

Rear Admiral Brice-O'Hara assumed command of the Fifth District in April 2003. She will assume the position of Director of Reserve and Training Directorate at Coast Guard Headquarters.

Rear Admiral Brice-O'Hara, a native of Annapolis, Md., and her husband, retired Coast Guard Cmdr. Robert F. O'Hara, have two sons, Chip and Brice.