Commanding Officer
Cmdr. Sean Rice
Cmdr. Sean Rice, a native of Boise, Idaho, graduated with honors from the United States Naval Academy in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering. He completed flight training in Milton, Florida, and was designated a Naval Aviator in February 2009. He earned a Master of Business Administration from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2015 and completed Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) Phase I through the U.S. Air Force Command and Staff College in 2021.
Rice’s operational assignments include Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22 and HSC-25, where he served as Maintenance Officer and Officer in Charge of Detachments 3 and 6.
Ashore, he completed tours at HSC-2 as an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter instructor pilot and Naval Air Force Atlantic Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) Evaluator; NATO Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation as Flag Aide, Military Assistant, and Executive Assistant to Rear Adm. Pete Gumataotao, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Policy and the Joint Staff J-7 as Branch Deputy and Joint Warfighting Concept implementation lead.
Selected for aviation command, Rice reported to the “Tridents” of HSC-9 as Executive Officer in April 2024 and assumed command in August 2025.
He has accumulated more than 3,100 flight hours, including more than 2,900 in the MH-60S Seahawk helicopter.
His decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (two awards) and various other personal and unit-level awards. He is a two-time recipient of the Sikorsky Rescue Award for leading, as Helicopter Aircraft Commander, lifesaving recoveries of two spear fishermen stranded on a reef in Guam and a critical medical evacuation from USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) during severe weather.