President Biden just nominated Admiral Linda L. Fagan as the next Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. If confirmed, Admiral Fagan, who started out as a deck officer on the Polar Star, a 399-foot icebreaker, will be the first woman Commandant of the Coast Guard and the first woman to lead any branch of the U.S. military.
Admiral Fagan has served as the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard (essentially its CEO) since last June. She previously was Commander of the Pacific Area. Since her graduation from the Coast Guard Academy in 1985, she has served on all seven continents. At one point, she was commander of Coast Guard Sector New York, and served more than 15 years as a marine inspector, becoming the longest-serving Marine Safety Officer ever.
After her confirmation, Admiral Fagan will relieve the current Commandant, Admiral Karl L. Schultz, in June. He will retire.
Admiral Schultz praised her as “an exceptional senior Coast Guard officer and nominee, possessing the keen intellect, the depth of operational experience, and the well-honed leadership and managerial acumen” to serve as Commandant.
Admiral Fagan also won praise from the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Coast Guard. The Senate Commerce Committee Republicans said in a tweet that “POTUS has finally nominated an outstanding leader for USCG.”
Born in Columbus, Ohio, Admiral Fagan is 58 (her maiden name was Keene). She and her husband, John, have two daughters, Moira, 29, and Aileen, 24. After the Coast Guard Academy, Admiral Fagan earned master’s degrees from the University of Washington and the National Defense University.
The Coast Guard now has 44,590 active duty personnel and 7,000 reservists. (There are also 31,000 volunteers in the Coast Guard Auxiliary.) The Coast Guard fleet includes 250 coastal and ocean-going cutters, patrol ships, buoy tenders, tugs and icebreakers, and almost 2,000 small boats. The air wing includes more than 200 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
The Coast Guard is the second smallest of the U.S. military services in terms of personnel. It also is the world’s 12th largest naval force. President Biden has requested $13.82 billion for the Coast Guard in his FY 2023 budget.
Because of its search-and-rescue operations, the service also has an unofficial motto: “You have to go out. You don’t have to come back.” Read more:
