Admiral Linda L. Fagan broke the army’s glass roof on Wednesday to become a U.S. Coast Guard commander and the first female officer to lead a branch of the U.S. military.
Previously the second in command of the service, Fagan has worn the Coast Guard uniform for more than four decades and to seven continents. She graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1985, one of 16 women who graduated in sixth grade to include women.
Admiral Linda Fagan greets President Joe Biden during a U.S. Coast Guard change of ceremony ceremony at USCG headquarters in Washington, DC, June 1, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
“We’ve made a lot of progress in the junior ranks, but we have to keep moving forward,” Fagan told CBS News in an interview last year. “We still don’t reflect the society we serve, and we need to keep working on it.”
“I recognize that I am now providing a set of shoulders for those who come after me,” Fagan added.
Admiral Linda Fagan attends the US Coast Guard (USCG) Change Ceremony at USCG Headquarters in Washington, DC, June 1, 2022. SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
Fagan is the 27th commander of the service, dating back to the Coast Guard establishment in 1915, which merged the U.S. Revenue Service and the US Lifeguard Service. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the branch moved to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“It was time,” President Biden said Wednesday. “When Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent me your name, I said, ‘What the hell did it take you so long?’
“Adm. Fagan is a pioneer,” said DHS Secretary Alexander Mayorkas. “Today is a historic day for the United States Coast Guard and a historic day for the United States.”
The first female four-star Admiral of the Coast Guard reflects on her journey and service mission 05:02
During his statements, Fagan paid tribute to the adm. Owen W. Siler, the 15th Service Commander who oversaw the integration of service academies.
“I never thought he would be here today, and I want to thank him,” Admiral Fagan said, noting that he was carrying the deceased commander’s shoulders in his honor.
It happens to the adm. Karl Schultz as head of the Coast Guard.
Mayorkas congratulated Schultz on leading a more than 20% increase in the Coast Guard budget along with “the largest shipbuilding effort since World War II.” In addition to seeing the branch through the coronavirus pandemic, Schultz’s tenure also included the most active hurricane season in the country to date, including three Category 5 hurricanes.
“We are a learning organization that strives to be more diverse and representative of the great nation we serve,” Schultz told the crowds gathered at Wednesday’s ceremony. “To be the best in the world, we also have to be the most inclusive in the world.”
The Coast Guard has changed quite a bit since Fagan entered the academy in 1981. At the time, service cutters still required new bedrooms and bathing facilities for enlisted women. It took years for the construction of permanent facilities for women throughout the U.S. Coast Guard fleet.
Fagan’s daughter, Aileen, is now a lieutenant in the Coast Guard.
Coast Guard Commander Linda Fagan, with her daughter, Aileen. Provided by the U.S. Coast Guard
The new commander previously led the Pacific area and the U.S. Coast Guard West Defense Force as commander.
Her first enlistment took her to Seattle, where she served the Polar Star, an icebreaker, as the only woman on board during her two-year tour. But his tour barely passed.
“At the time, the executive officer, when I did my final report, said we were actually thinking of canceling your orders. We didn’t want just one woman on board,” Fagan told CBS News earlier. “And luckily he didn’t, and it was an amazing first tour for me.”
The adm. Michelle Howard became the first woman to achieve four-star rank in the U.S. Navy and has since retired. General Charles Q. Brown Jr., leader of the U.S. Air Force, is the first black officer to reach the rank of Chief of Service. Secretary of Defense General Lloyd J. Austin III is the first black man to hold that capacity.
FILE: Members of the Coast Guard Port Security Unit 311, deployed at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, greet Vice Admiral Linda Fagan, Commander of the Pacific Area, during the Fagan visit, December 14, 2018. (Photo edited for security) U.S. Coast Guard
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 40% of the incoming class at the New London, Connecticut Coast Guard Academy are women. Currently, only 15% of U.S. Coast Guard personnel are women, while 30% are minorities.
“Having 40% women in the Coast Guard Academy is a big first step,” Fagan said Wednesday. “But we need to make some of that same progress in our enlisted ranks, and not just women, but underrepresented minority men.”
The new head of the Coast Guard noted that one of his “top priorities” is to “transform the way we manage talent and assignment policy.”
“We’re hiring!” Fagan joked. “We face the same talent challenge that the rest of society faces. And we have to be really deliberate on how we’re going to attract people.”
In 2015, the Obama administration abandoned policies that once prohibited women from performing combat duties.
Last year, Fagan became the first female four-star admiral in U.S. Coast Guard history. The list of four-star women in military history is still short: General Dunwoody, General Janet Wolfenbarger, Adm. Michelle Howard, General Lori Robinson, General Ellen Pawlikowski, General Maryanne Miller and General Jacqueline Van Ovost, who are currently serving, are among the few.
The new commander has also won the first gold trident in the service branch, recognizing the officer with the longest service record in the field of maritime security.
As for breaking that glass ceiling, Fagan said his date for making history was the beginning. “I hope the 28th Commander is another underrepresented minority woman or man.”
He added: “Although this is the first, I look forward to the next!”
Catherine Herridge and Natalie Brand contributed to this report.
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Nicole Sganga
CBS News reporter covering national security and justice.