PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath assumed the duties and responsibilities of Coast Guard Fifth District Commander from Rear Adm. Laura Dickey at Coast Guard Base Portsmouth, Virginia, Wednesday.
As commander of the Fifth District, Gilreath will serve as the operational commander for all U.S. Coast Guard missions from the North Carolina/South Carolina border to New Jersey, encompassing nearly 5,600 Coast Guard active duty, Reserve, and civilian personnel and spanning 1.4 million square miles of oceans, bays, and rivers. The Fifth District also includes several mid-Atlantic ports, the largest U.S. Naval base in the world, and our National Capital Region.
Prior to assuming command of the Fifth District, Gilreath most recently served as Commander, Personnel Service Center, in Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for executing the Coast Guard’s human resource policies by recruiting, accessing, assigning, developing careers, maintaining well-being, compensating, separating and retiring the nearly 45,000 members of the active duty and reserve workforces.
“It has been a privilege to serve as the Fifth District Commander,” said Dickey. “The Fifth District is pivotal to the Nation’s security and the complex needs of the Mid-Atlantic Maritime Transportation System. Every day, Fifth District active-duty, civilian, Reserve and Auxiliary men and women exhibit the values and traditions of our service and ensure the continued safety of mariners.”
Dickey served as the Fifth District Commander since 2020 and oversaw Coast Guard response operations throughout the region, including response efforts to oil spills, search and rescue cases and numerous critical marine transportation issues. She will go on to assume the role of Deputy Commander, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, based out of Portsmouth, Virginia.
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