Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara will assume command of the Coast Guard's 14th District in Hawai'i during a change-of-command ceremony May 3.

Brice-O'Hara will be the first wo-man to head the district, which includes Hawai'i, Guam and Japan. She also served as commander of the 5th District, based in Portsmouth, Va.

Brice-O'Hara will replace Rear Adm. Charles Wurster, who last week was confirmed as the Coast Guard's Pacific-area commander and will transfer to Alameda, Calif. Wurster's new command includes Coast Guard units in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawai'i.

The change-of-command ceremony is set for 10 a.m. May 3 at the Coast Guard's Sand Island facility, said Chief Petty Officer Marsha Delaney.

Brice-O'Hara's first official event will be at the USO parade in Waikiki May 6, where she will be in the reviewing stand, Delaney said.

A native of Annapolis, Md., Brice-O'Hara joined the Coast Guard in 1975, a year after receiving a bachelor's degree from Goucher College in Baltimore.

Brice-O'Hara has served a variety assignments, including overseeing the Coast Guard Auxiliary, commanding the Training Center at Cape May in New Jersey, as well as commanding Station Cape May and Group Baltimore.

Currently, Brice-O'Hara is director of reserve and training in Washington, D.C. As director of the Coast Guard Reserve, she is in charge of developing policies to recruit, train, allocate and support more than 12,000 Coast Guard Ready Reservists. Brice-O'Hara also is responsible for the Coast Guard's training centers.

Brice-O'Hara and her husband, Bob, have two sons.

Wurster assumed command of the 14th District in July 2003. The district's commander oversees 29 units that covers more than 12 million square miles of the Central Pacific Ocean.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.