Rear Admiral John L. Parker became the sixth Commander of Maintenance and Logistics Command Pacific on 16 July 1998. His prior assignment was on the Chief of Naval Operations' staff as Director, Operations and Interagency Support Division (N31), where he was the first permanently assigned Coast Guard Flag Officer.
Rear Admiral Parker, a surface operations specialist, has spent a great deal of his career at sea, including command of seven cutters: Mellon, Venturous, Clover, Comanche, Point Slocum, Point Brown and Cape Current. During the most recent of these tours, from July 1989 to July 1991, Mellon became the first cutter to be outfitted with a modernized weapons suite and successfully test fire a Harpoon missile. Later in this tour, Mellon became the first cutter to pay an official port visit to Vladivostok, USSR.
Rear Admiral Parker's other afloat experiences include serving as the Communications and Deck Watch Officer aboard the cutter Ingham and Operations Officer/Executive Officer aboard the cutter GRESHAM. Other shore assignments include duty as Coast Guard Pacific Area Chief of Staff; Chief, Operations Division, as well as Chief, Defense Operations Division at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC; Chief, Intelligence and Law Enforcement Branch at the Eleventh Coast Guard District Office, Long Beach, California; Coast Guard Liaison Officer to Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Deputy Commander, Coast Guard Section Marianas, Guam.
Rear Admiral Parker received a Bachelor of Science from the United States Coast Guard Academy in June 1966 and graduated from the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island in July 1977.
Rear Admiral Parker's awards include the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with three Gold Stars, the Coast Guard Commendation medal with Gold Star, the Coast Guard Achievement Medal with the Operational Distinguishing Device, the Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and several unit commendations.
Rear Admiral Parker is a native of Palatine, Illinois. He is married to the former Margaret Elaine Shubin of Downey, California.