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

She replaces Rear Adm. Charles Wurster, who last month 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.

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.

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

To accept the Hawai'i command, Brice-O'Hara left a post as director of reserve and training in Washington, D.C. As director of the Coast Guard Reserve, she was 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.