PHOTOS AVAILABLE: Master Chief Hooker replaces husband during Eleventh District change of watch ceremony

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 11th District Pacific Southwest Contact: 11th District Public Affairs Office: (510) 437-3325 After Hours: (510) 772-8865 11th District online newsroom

Master Chief Hooker replaces husband during Eleventh District change of watch ceremony

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ALAMEDA, Calif. — Master Chief Petty Officer Phadra Y. Hooker replaced her husband, Master Chief Petty Officer Richard S. Hooker, as the Eleventh Coast Guard District command master chief Friday during a change-of-watch ceremony on Coast Guard Island in Alameda.

The change-of-watch ceremony, presided over by Rear Admiral Brian Penoyer, the Eleventh District commander, is a time-honored tradition and ensures the continuity of leadership in the district’s area of responsibility.

Phadra Hooker most recently served as the command master chief for Coast Guard Sector San Francisco, where her primary responsibilities were advising the sector commander on issues and initiatives pertaining to all Coast Guard members and families in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, which includes units in Monterey, Bodega Bay and Lake Tahoe.

“I am honored and privileged to serve as the gold badge command master chief for District Eleven,” said Phadra Hooker. “Earlier in my career, I discovered the amazing impact that a gold badge could make to not only the people and the unit, but to the organization.”

Richard Hooker retired during the ceremony after 33 years of service.

Richard Hooker is a native of Salem, Oregon. He enlisted in the Coast Guard in July of 1988, advanced to chief petty officer in July of 1998 and made master chief petty officer in 2005. He is a marine science technician by trade and in March 2017, became the first Silver Ancient Trident.

Richard Hooker assumed the Eleventh Coast Guard District command master chief watch in August 2019. Prior to that, he served as the command master chief for the deputy commandant for operations.

The Eleventh District is responsible for Coast Guard roles and missions across 3.3 million square miles of the country including the states of California, Utah, Nevada and Arizona and the inland waters of lakes Powell, Tahoe, Meade, Havasu and Mojave. Responsibilities extend from the Mexico border across the eastern Pacific Ocean, where the Coast Guard counters transnational criminal threats, conducts the majority of its counter-narcotics patrols and coordinates search and rescue.

Established in 1939, the Eleventh Coast Guard District employs approximately 2,400 active-duty, reserve and civilian employees and comprises 43 units including sectors, air stations, buoy tenders, small-boat stations, patrol boats, aids-to-navigation teams, marine safety detachments and vessel traffic service centers.

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