The Admiral Is A Lady
Sally Brice-O’Hara joined the Coast Guard 31 years ago, thinking it would be a short ‘stint.’ Today she’s in charge of the Coasties’ operations in their biggest region
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With operation specialist Mike Labine in the command
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Her assignments have taken her all over the country from field work in Kodiak, Alaska, to policy work in Washington, D.C.
One of the benefits of a Coast Guard career, she says, is that it enabled her and her husband, retired Coast Guard Cmdr. Bob O’Hara, to organize their assignments so they could also raise their two sons. (By the way, Brice-O’Hara does outrank her husband, although, she adds with a twinkle, ‘Perhaps not at home.’ )
Thirty-one years after she began her “stint” in the service, Brice-O’Hara is one of three female flag-level officers in the U.S. Coast Guard.
“It means that a lot of people are looking at me to be a role model,” she says.
“I want to help everybody be successful and set a culture where we truly respect one another and value the rich fabric that we all bring.”
In Hawaii, Brice-O’Hara oversees more than 1,800 personnel. District 14 covers more than 12 million square miles of ocean, and includes Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Japan and Singapore. It’s the largest geographic area of responsibility in the Coast Guard, but it also is the smallest in terms of work force.
Managing resources and logistics over such a vast area is one of the district’s biggest challenges.
“We have limited resources,” Brice-O’Hara says. “So we have to determine how we deploy them to the most critical needs, yet at the same time save enough capacity in the event that we do have that cry for help and have to go, on no notice, to someone’s urgent situation out on the water.”
In District 14 last year, the Coast Guard conducted more than 824 search and rescue missions, saving 217 lives and $3.9 million in property.
“Coasties,” as they call themselves, pride themselves on being part of an elite service. Brice-O’Hara says a Coastie is typified by a willingness to serve others.
“That’s followed by a healthy dose of courage and fortitude because of the types of missions that we endure ... we go out in the kinds of conditions that no one else will go out in.”
On less weighty matters, Brice-O’Hara is honest that the Hawaii assignment is hardly an onerous one.
“This is paradise,” she says simply.
And her job affords her some enviable opportunities. Shortly after she arrived in the Islands, the admiral went up in a helicopter to get familiar with her new area of responsibility, flying over Maui, Kauai and Molokai.
“I got to do this overflight on my birthday, so of course we’re seeing these spectacular views, things that tourists would pay a fortune to see, so it was a very, very special treat,” she says.
Last week the admiral was scheduled to visit Midway, which is a key refueling stop for the service’s C-130s.
And as commander of the 14th District, Brice-O’Hara was given the key to what must be one of the most enviable quarters on the island, the keeper’s cottage at the base of Diamond Head lighthouse.
“It’s a very modest house, it’s relatively small, but of course it’s the view,” she says.
Flag-level officers are typically assigned for two-year periods before moving on, but Brice-O’Hara already hopes that her time in Hawaii is longer.
“I want them to forget that I’m here and just leave me,” she says with a smile.
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