CHICAGO — The crew of Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Chicago is scheduled to hold a change-of-command ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday, at the Bolingbrook Golf Club in Bolingbrook, Illinois.
Cmdr. Zeita Merchant will relieve Capt. Ryan Manning as the commanding officer of Marine Safety Unit Chicago Friday morning.
A native of Chicago, Merchant will be the first African American female commanding officer in history to command a Coast Guard marine safety unit and the first female officer to command Marine Safety Unit Chicago.
Merchant’s most recent tours include serving as the special assistant to the vice commandant of the Coast Guard; the executive officer of Marine Safety Unit Texas City, Texas; and a congressional fellow on two committees in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Manning took command of Marine Safety Unit Chicago in July 2014 and has been selected to serve as the chief of the Coast Guard Office of Port and Facility Compliance at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
“I’d like to recognize and thank Capt. Manning for his dedication to Marine Safety Unit Chicago, our partners and industry members, the Coast Guard, and our nation,” said Capt. Amy Cocanour, commander of Coast Guard Sector Lake Michigan. “I’d also like to welcome Cmdr. Merchant to the Ninth District family and back to her home city of Chicago.”
Marine Safety Unit Chicago comprises 52 active duty, reserve and civilian personnel. It serves an active network of domestic and international maritime interests covering the Lake Michigan shorelines of Illinois and Indiana, as well as 186 miles of the Illinois River System segmented by seven locks and more than 250 bridges. Marine Safety Unit Chicago’s area of responsibility includes a fleet of 266 vessels and 118 regulated waterfront facilities. The unit is also responsible for administering the Coast Guard’s programs for commercial vessel safety management, marine environmental response, port safety and security, and waterways management.
The change of command is a time-honored tradition which formally restates that the continuity of command will be maintained. It is a formal ritual conducted before the assembled unit’s crew. It conveys to the officers, enlisted personnel, civilian employees and auxiliarists of the Coast Guard that, although, the authority of command is relinquished by one person and is assumed by another, it is still maintained without interruption.
Media interested in attending the change of command should contact Lt. Lindsay Cook, the public affairs officer for MSU Chicago at 630-986-2131 or lindsay.n.cook@uscg.mil.