Rear Adm. Megan Dean takes the helm of the Coast Guard in Alaska

Rear Adm. Megan Dean now commands the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska. And, as far as anyone can remember, she’s the first woman to do so. 

Dean was sworn in at a change-of-command ceremony in Juneau on Friday. After the ceremony, Dean said she’s spent a lot of her career in Florida, and she’s anticipating different challenges here in Alaska. 

“I think a lot of it up here is just obviously, you all know, the weather — and then the tyranny of distance and time,” Dean said.

Dean said she thinks it’s important for other women in the Coast Guard to see someone like them in positions of leadership. But she rejects the idea that being a woman makes her more or less capable in this role. 

“I’m a Coast Guard officer, not a female Coast Guard officer. I have had an incredible career, been given lots of opportunities,” she said. “And you know, and I think that’s because I’ve been competent in the job that I’m in.”

Last year, Adm. Linda Fagan became the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard — the first woman to lead any branch of the U.S. military. The Coast Guard could not confirm on Friday that Dean is the first woman to lead the Coast Guard in Alaska, but a list going back to 1964 shows only men in the role.

U.S. Coast Guard District 17 has its administrative offices in Juneau and runs all of Alaska’s Coast Guard operations. Nearly 2,000 people work for District 17 and it patrols 47,300 miles of shoreline. 

Last year, the district conducted 521 search and rescues, saving 187 lives, according to Coast Guard data.

Dean says that her Florida background means she’s already familiar with working in an area with a lot of cruise tourism. 

“When  I came across the bridge from Douglas on Wednesday, I think it was, and I looked over and I’m like, ‘That’s five cruise ships over there, that looks like Miami.ʼ I think I had awareness of it,” Dean said. “But it was pretty eye-opening.”

She said that as the cruise industry expands north in the state, so do the risks of challenging evacuation and rescue operations. 

Dean is replacing Rear Adm. Nathan Moore, who has held the position since 2021. Her first mission is a trip to Kodiak, Cordova, and Kotzebue, to meet more of the people who make up Coast Guard District 17.