STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Capt. Zeita Merchant, commander of The Port of New York, will make history in April when she attains the rank of rear admiral, becoming the highest-ranking African American woman in the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USGC) 233-year history.
After a lengthy confirmation process, Merchant was approved in December 2023 by Congress and will assume the rank during the Coast Guard’s Change of Command exercises in April. At that time, she will assume a new position in USCG Headquarters in Washington, D.C
At the USCG Sector One, based in Rosebank, Merchant is commander of one of the nation’s busiest port complexes, managing more than 1,000 personnel in 12 commands daily over an area spanning more than 6,000 square miles. She and her staff are tasked with keeping the waters of New York and New Jersey safe daily for both travelers and hundreds of billions of dollars in cargo.
Calling the USCG a close-knit family, Merchant thanked her superior officers along the way, praising the “climate for success” fostered in the nation’s only military branch in the Department of Homeland Security.
She said working in New York City has been the “assignment of a lifetime,” one she could never have envisioned herself in as a young college kid from the South, who admittedly joined the Coast Guard solely for college debt assistance.
“When I joined, I was focused on the three-year obligation, and even that was hard…
