Brig. Gen. Stephen K. Curda, the first Korean-American to reach the rank of one-star general in the Army Reserve, was selected Thursday to lead all Army Reserve soldiers in the Pacific, the Pentagon announced.
For the past three years, Curda has led the 351st Civil Affairs Command in Mountain View, Calif. He will replace Brig. Gen. John Cardwell.
The Pentagon said Curda will be the incoming commander of the 9th Mission Support Command at Fort Shafter.
The 9th Mission Support Command is made up of 3,500 Army Reserve soldiers and 160 civilians throughout the Pacific including Hawaii, Alaska, American Samoa, Japan, South Korea, Guam and Saipan.
Curda is a veteran of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He served in several commands in the Army civil affairs community.
As a civilian, Curda holds a doctorate in educational psychology and instructional technology and is an educator and administrator in higher education. Currently, he is the director of assessment and innovative technology for National Louis University in Chicago and serves on the faculty of the university’s National College of Education.
Other changes in leadership of military units occurred in June when Coast Guard Capt. Frederick Riedlin relieved Capt. Timothy Gilbride and assumed command of Barbers Point Coast Guard Air Station.
Riedlin, a native of Easton, Md., served as executive assistant for the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate and was the commanding officer of New Orleans Air Station.
Gilbride, a native of Pensacola, Fla., retired as head of Barbers Point Air Station — a post he held since June 2012.
At Sand Island, Coast Guard Capt. Edward Sheppard Jr. relieved Capt. Patrick McElligatt as commander of Coast Guard Base Honolulu. McElligatt took command of Base Honolulu in June 2013. He will be transferring to Coast Guard Headquarters, Office of Mission Support Integration in Washington, D.C.
The Pentagon in June also announced that Navy Capt. John W. Korka has been selected for promotion to rear admiral and will be assigned as commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific at Pearl Harbor. Korka is currently serving as director at maritime headquarters at the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command in Virginia Beach, Va.
Korka holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Old Dominion University and Pennsylvania State University.
The Pentagon also said that Air Force Maj. Gen. Mark C. Dillon, deputy chief of staff for the United Nations Command and U.S. Forces Korea, at Yongsan Army Garrison in South Korea, will be the new vice commander at Pacific Air Forces headquarters at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
