Rear Admiral Harold W. Parker, Jr. became Commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District, Seattle, WA., on March 25, 1983. For three years prior to that he was Chief, Office of Boating, Public, and Consumer Affairs at Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1978, at which time he became Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard District, Long Beach, CA. Earlier he had served as Chief of Staff in the Eleventh District and before that as commander, Greater Antilles Section, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The son of a Coast Guard Officer, Rear Admiral Parker is from Juneau, Alaska, and attended school in various places until he was graduated from Balboa High School, San Francisco, in 1946. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering and with a commission as Ensign on June 2, 1950.
Since then Rear Admiral Parker has served in a variety of assignments including command of the buoy tender Mistletoe out of Portsmouth, VA.; command of the buoy tender Heather, Long Beach CA; command of the Loran Station at Iwo Jima, and controller of the Rescue Coordination Center, Atlantic Area, based in New York, where he coordinated the rescue operations of 1800 survivors following the collision between the Italian liner Andrea Doria and the Swedish liner Stockholm in July 1956.
His previous assignments also included command of the Coast Guard Cutter Pontchartrain during 1970, in South Vietnam; Operations Officer on board the cutter Matagorda, out of Boston, MA; Executive Officer of the buoy tender Willow, San Francisco; and Communications Officer of the cutter Escanaba, Alameda, CA.
Rear Admiral Parker's awards include the Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star, the Coast Guard Commendation Medal with Gold Star, and the Order of Merit to the Republic of Italy, with rank of Cavalier.
Rear Admiral Parker is married tot he former Alice Mahoney, of Staten Island, New York.