Editors' Note: Click on images to download high-resolution version.
NEW ORLEANS — Coast Guard 8th District personnel held a change-of-command ceremony Friday at the Port of New Orleans.
During the ceremony, Rear Adm. Richard V. Timme transferred command of the Coast Guard 8th District to Rear Adm. David C. Barata.
As the 8th District commander, Barata is responsible for all Coast Guard operations spanning 26 states, including the Gulf of Mexico coastline from Florida to Mexico, the adjacent offshore waters and outer continental shelf, and the inland waterways of the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee River systems. Headquartered in New Orleans, the 8th District is comprised of more than 7,600 active duty, reserve, civilian and auxiliary personnel and encompasses three major regions covering more than 11,000 miles of waterways and 179,000 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico.
“I’m humbled and grateful to be here,” said Rear Adm. David C. Barata. “We’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us as the demand for the Coast Guard isn’t going anywhere. I'm going to focus on taking care of our leaders, taking care of our members and their families, and having a little bit of fun along the way.”
Barata was previously assigned as the commander of Personnel Service Center at Coast Guard headquarters 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. For more information on Barata’s Coast Guard career visit here.
Timme originally took command of the 8th District in June 2021 and retired after 32 years of service following the change of command.
“Nowhere does the Coast Guard interact with the Marine Transportation System more than right here in the Eighth District,” said Rear Adm. Richard V. Timme. “This team has it and they know what to do. They are battle hardened professionals and stand ready for all that the eighth district throws at them.”
A change-of-command ceremony marks a transfer of total responsibility and authority from one individual to another. It is a time-honored tradition conducted before the assembled crew, as well as honored guests and dignitaries to formally demonstrate the continuity of the authority within a command.
For more information follow us on Facebook and Twitter .
-USCG-