Rear Adm. Gary Blore, former commander of Air Station Astoria, is returning to the Pacific Northwest.

He will take over from Rear Adm. John Currier as commander of the 13th Coast Guard District in Seattle. Currier has been nominated by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Thad Allen, to serve as the future chief of staff for the service.

The 13th District encompasses Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Blore serves as Assistant Commandant for Acquisition and Chief Acquisition Officer of the Coast Guard as well as the Program Executive Officer of the Coast Guard’s Integrated Deepwater System, overseeing the sustainment, modernization, and recapitalization of surface, air, command and control and logistics assets for the Coast Guard’s multiple maritime missions. He has also served as the Homeland Security Council’s senior director for border and transportation security.

Once approved by Congress, Currier will oversee acquisition, personnel, budgeting, communication technologies, engineering and logistics for the service.

Currier was commissioned in 1976 upon graduation from officer candidate school and was designated as an aviator after completion of Naval Flight training in 1977. Currier was previously stationed as commander of Coast Guard Air Stations Miami and Detroit. He has also been stationed at Air Stations in Cape Cod, Mass., Sitka, Alaska, Traverse City, Mich., and Astoria, Ore.

Among his many awards, Currier has received the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross along with the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Coast Guard Commendation Medal with “O” device and Coast Guard Achievement Medal with “O” device.

Currier holds a master’s degree in business from Embry-Riddle University and is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine.

Blore headed lower Columbia operations for three years from 1997 until 2000, when he was reassigned to Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., to head the agency’s aviation wing overseeing 26 air stations, 161 aircraft and more than 3,000 people.

During his Astoria posting, Blore was awarded the Coast Guard’s Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal for working on visits of the Coast Guard barque Eagle, participation in the “Start Making A Reader Today” program, river and beach cleanups, and active support for the Coast Guard Wives’ Club – now known at the Coast Guard Spouses’ Association – and Thanksgiving food drives.

When he left his post in Astoria, Blore attributed success during his watch – including more than 200 lives saved, 1,800 search-and-rescue missions and $2.5 million in saved property – to his 300-plus staff at Group Astoria.

Two weeks after graduating high school, Blore joined the Coast Guard at 17. He first served aboard the cutter Venturous. Selected for flight school, he became a Coast Guard aviator in 1977. He moved up the ranks, including stints as assistant operations officer at Station Cape Cod, support for Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and work at Coast Guard headquarters as a program reviewer and budget analyst.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Coast Guard Academy and a master’s degree in public policy and administration from Columbia University. He has received many decorations including five awards of the Legion of merit, two Meritorious Service Medals, two Coast Guard Commendation medals and the Transportation 9-11 Medal.

His wife, Vera Steiner Blore, was active in the community during their time in Astoria working with several organizations, including Columbia Memorial Hospital, the Astoria Children’s Museum, Sea Resources, the Ilwaco Community Development Association and the Liberty Theater.