Captain Zeita Merchant
Women’s Equality Day: Leading in the U.S. Coast Guard
August 26, 2020, Mariana O'Leary
The protests. The picket lines. The headlines report disturbing arrests and mistreatment by police and jailers. It was 100 years ago that the persistence of women leading the fight for equality who refused to give up, go away, or be silenced, finally paid off. On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, and women finally had the right to vote.
As we celebrate Women’s Equality Day this week, two U.S. Coast Guard leaders lend a few words of wisdom as they continue that American tradition of persistence and determination.
Capt. Zeita Merchant, Deputy Sector Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York, along with Capt. Eva Van Camp, Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound, has more than 45 years of combined experience as a leader in the military.
Merchant reported to Sector New York, one of the largest Coast Guard units on the East Coast, in May 2020. When she assumed the deputy position, New York City was struggling to overcome being the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. She faced it with the conviction and perseverance her nearly 1000-member unit had already become accustomed to.
The Coast Guard’s core values drove Merchant to join the nation’s most minor service more than 23 years ago in Jackson, Miss., though it looked different back then.
“I always had a passion for serving,” she Merchant. “But there weren’t a lot of females when I first joined the Coast Guard. That was hard. Even as a junior officer, I learned that I could not do it alone. I had to have mentors. The key was knowing the importance of identifying and finding a mentor, even if they didn’t look like me; because at the time, that mentor didn’t exist.”
Now, “the armed forces’ best-kept secret” is how Merchant describes the service in which she acts as a mentor to females who look up to her for inspiration.
“We have a service in which there’s no operational rating that’s closed to females,” said Merchant. “Compared to other services, we’ve been leading in that realm for a long time.”
As Coast Guard leadership has prioritized diversity in the service’s ranks to reflect the diversity of the very population they serve, leaders have learned they must face the challenge of retaining women and minorities head-on.
“We’re making strides recruiting the diversity we need, but our challenge now is the retention of those females and minorities in our service,” said Merchant. “The best thing we can do right now is to continue investing in their future. A part of my success is owed to the opportunities that I had, be it operating and working in some of the Coast Guard’s largest units around the country or special assignments that allowed me to branch out and keep me competitive in the service.”
Along with that investment, Merchant says the need to be flexible toward supporting women in the service is crucial to retaining them. One such initiative is the new surge staffing program, allowing a command to bring on a reservist to fill in for an active duty member on parental leave.
“This flexibility means there’s no reason for women to feel guilty in deciding to take the allotted leave or temporarily separate from caring for a newborn child,” said Merchant.
Merchant, who is only the third African-American woman in the Coast Guard to achieve the rank of captain, is part of the less than 3 percent of women that make up the entire global maritime workforce.
“When you have a woman, and specifically a woman of color in a senior leadership position representing the Coast Guard in one of the most diverse cities in the nation, it not only inspires junior members in the Coast Guard but also inspires the community in which we serve,” said Merchant. “This opportunity is not about me; it’s about paving the way for them as well.”
https://www.hstoday.us/channels/us-coast-guard/womens-equality-day-leading-in-the-u-s-coast-guard/
Captain Zeita since joining Sector NY as Deputy Commander had made strides to share her experiences with young people. In adapting to our COVID world she hosted a Women’s in Maritime Event with Billion Oyster Project in the fall. Check out the video which highlights maritime careers for women.