Admiral Linda L. Fagan shattered the navy's glass ceiling on Wednesday to develop into commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and the primary feminine officer to guide a department of the U.S. armed forces.
Beforehand the service's second-in-command, Fagan has worn the Coast Guard uniform for greater than 4 a long time and on all seven continents. She graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1985, one among 16 ladies who graduated her 12 months within the sixth class to incorporate ladies.
"We have made numerous progress within the junior ranks, however we have to preserve making progress," Fagan informed CBS Information in an interview, final 12 months. "We don't but mirror the society that we serve, and we have to preserve engaged on that."
"I acknowledge I'm now offering a set of shoulders for individuals who come after me," Fagan added.
Fagan is the twenty seventh commandant of the service, courting again to the 1915 institution of the Coast Guard, which merged the Income Cutter Service and U.S. Life-Saving Service. Following the 9/11 terrorist assaults, the department was moved underneath the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS).
"It is about time," President Biden mentioned Wednesday. "When the Secretary of Protection, Lloyd Austin, despatched me your identify, I mentioned, 'What within the hell took you so lengthy?'"
"Adm. Fagan is a trailblazer," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas mentioned. "At the moment is a historic day for america Coast Guard and a historic day for america."
Throughout her remarks, Fagan paid tribute to Adm. Owen W. Siler, the fifteenth commandant of the service who oversaw the combination of the service academies.
"I by no means believed I might be standing right here immediately, and I wish to thank him," Admiral Fagan mentioned, noting that she wore the late commandant's shoulder boards in his honor.
She succeeds Adm. Karl Schultz as head of the Coast Guard.
Mayorkas counseled Schultz for spearheading a greater than 20% enhance within the Coast Guard finances together with "the most important shipbuilding effort since World Struggle II." Along with seeing the department by way of the coronavirus pandemic, Schultz's tenure additionally included the nation's most lively hurricane season to this point, together with three class 5 hurricanes.
"We're a studying group striving to be extra numerous and consultant of the good nation that we serve," Schultz informed crowds gathered at Wednesday's ceremony. "To be the world's greatest, we should even be the world's most inclusive."
The Coast Guard has modified fairly a bit since Fagan entered the academy in 1981. At the moment, the service's cutters nonetheless required new sleeping lodging and toilet services for enlisted females. Constructing everlasting services for girls throughout the U.S. Coast Guard fleet took years.
Fagan's daughter, Aileen, now serves as a lieutenant within the Coast Guard.
The brand new commandant previously led the U.S. Coast Guard's Pacific Space and Protection Drive West as commander.
Her first enlistment took her to Seattle, the place she served on the Polar Star, an ice breaker, as the one lady aboard throughout her two-year tour. However her tour nearly did not occur.
"On the time, the chief officer once I did my finish transient, mentioned really we thought of canceling your orders. We did not need just one lady on board," Fagan previously informed CBS Information. "And fortunately it didn't, and it was an unimaginable first tour for me."
Adm. Michelle Howard grew to become the primary lady to succeed in the four-star rank within the U.S. Navy and has since retired. Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chief of the U.S. Air Drive, is the primary Black officer to rise to the extent of service chief. Secretary of Protection Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III is the primary Black man to serve in that capability.
In accordance with the U.S. Coast Guard, 40% of the incoming class of the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., are ladies. At the moment, simply 15% of U.S. Coast Guard personnel are feminine, whereas 30% signify minorities.
"Having 40% ladies enter the Coast Guard Academy is a good first step," Fagan mentioned Wednesday. "However we have to make a few of that very same progress in our enlisted ranks — and never simply ladies, however underrepresented minority males."
The Coast Guard's new head famous that one among her "high priorities" is "reworking how we handle expertise and task coverage."
"We're hiring!" Fagan quipped. "We face the identical problem for expertise that the remainder of society is dealing with. And we have to be actually deliberate in how we draw individuals in."
In 2015, the Obama administration dropped insurance policies previously barring ladies from serving in fight roles.
Final 12 months, Fagan grew to become the primary feminine four-star admiral in U.S. Coast Guard historical past. The record of four-star females in navy historical past stays brief: Gen. Dunwoody, Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger, Adm. Michelle Howard, Gen. Lori Robinson, Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, Gen. Maryanne Miller, and Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost who's at present serving, are among the many few.
The brand new commandant has additionally earned the service department's first-ever Gold Historic Trident, recognizing the officer with the longest service file within the marine security area.
As for breaking that tumbler ceiling, Fagan referred to as her history-making appointment the start. "I hope the twenty eighth commandant is one other feminine or an underrepresented minority male."
She added, "Whereas that is the primary, I look ahead to the subsequent!"
Catherine Herridge and Natalie Model contributed to this report.