Commanders of the Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet and of Navy Region Southwest, both headquartered in San Diego, will relinquish their commands in March and April.

Rear Adm. Terry Etnyre

Vice Adm. Tim LaFleur

Rear Adm. Jose Luis Betancourt Jr.

Rear Adm. Leendert R. Hering Sr.

On March 4, Rear Adm. Terry Etnyre will relieve Vice Adm. Tim LaFleur as commander of the Naval Surface Force in the Pacific during a 10 a.m. ceremony aboard the USS Belleau Wood. Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark and Adm. Walter F. Doran, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, will be in attendance.

In a mid-April ceremony (a precise date and location were not known at press time), Rear Adm. Jose Luis Betancourt Jr., commander of Navy Region Southwest, will be relieved by Rear Adm. Leendert “Len” R. Hering Sr.

LaFleur has announced that he will retire after nearly 35 years of naval service. He is a 1970 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. During his career, LaFleur has commanded a destroyer, ammunition ship and the USS Constellation Battle Group. The commander of Naval Surface Forces oversees the Navy’s surface ships.

Etnyre has been commander of Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan. In 1987, Etnyre commanded the USS Lynde McCormick. That ship took part in “Operation Praying Mantis,” the U.S. response to the mining of the Persian Gulf and the mine damage to the USS Samuel B. Roberts. He has worked on the staffs of the commander of naval surface force in the Pacific, the commander of naval air force and in the office of the chief of naval operations.

Betancourt was born in Mexico and raised in Texas. He graduated from Pan American University and earned master’s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. Betancourt was commander of the USS Merrill when it served as flagship and mine countermeasures support ship in the Persian Gulf during “Operation Desert Storm.” He also commanded the USS Peleliu.

Hering will assume Betancourt’s position after serving as commander of Navy Region Northwest, which covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. His new command covers Navy shore installations in California, Arizona and Nevada.

Hering was commissioned through the NROTC scholarship program at State University of New York Maritime College with a bachelor of science degree in meteorology and oceanography. He holds a master’s degree from the Naval War College and a master’s degree in business management from Salve Regina University. He commanded the USS Doyle and was a member of the Vinson Battle Group in “Operation Desert Strike.” Hering was commanding officer of Naval Base San Diego from May 1999 to April 2002.