Our next Atlantic Area commander is a Portland native

The transition of the leadership continues with the announcement of three Vice Admirals who will serve under our next Commandant. An item caught my eye, one of the three is a Portland native. Pending confirmation by the Senate, Rear Adm. Robert C. Parker will be promoted to vice admiral and assigned as commander of the Coast Guard’s Atlantic Area.

Parker, a native of Portland, Ore., serves as the U.S. Southern Command’s first director of security and intelligence in Miami, where he directs U.S. military operations and intelligence efforts, and coordinates interagency operations in Southern Command’s area of responsibility. He is the first Coast Guard officer to serve as a director in a Department of Defense command. In his new position at Atlantic Area, Parker will command an area of responsibility that ranges from the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf and includes five Coast Guard Districts, 42 states and over 14 million square miles.

For those of you keeping track of modernization this means Rear Adm. Parker will take responsibility for the Coast Guard Operations Command (OPCOM).