Captain Lexia M. Littlejohn

Meet Captain Lexia M. Littlejohn

YOUNGSTOWN — It stretches along 570 miles of largely international shoreline from Vermillion, Ohio, a second-ring suburb of Cleveland, to Messina, NY, near the entrance from the Atlantic Ocean into the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The Finger Lakes and the Erie Canal are included in its waterways, from Buffalo to Little Falls, with the Niagara and Cuyahoga rivers thrown in for good measure.

There are 15 free-standing stations or units, manned by 351 active duty personnel, 100 reservists, and about 800 volunteer auxiliary members.

If Coast Guard Sector Buffalo sounds like a lot to handle, it's just another day at the office for Capt. Lexia Littlejohn.

The newly minted sector commander here embraces what her business card describes as "Protecting the Eastern Great Lakes."

"We keep the Great Lakes safe," Littlejohn says with a smile and a nod. "We are in the top five sectors nationwide, in search and rescue missions, and we do it, mostly, in a short summer (boating) season."

A 1997 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, Littlejohn began her career as a Deck Watch Officer and Boarding Team member on the cutter "Rush" in the Bering Sea. Not precisely a warm-weather destination.

When she graduated from the academy, Littlejohn said she wasn't optimistic the Coast Guard would be her career.

"I was gonna spend five years (the minimum requirement after the academy) and then out," she said with a laugh. "But then I thought, this is pretty cool. I think I'm going to stick around. Each experience I've had (in the Coast Guard) has been one that has changed me in different ways."

And, as a native New Yorker, Littlejohn says her Buffalo sector appointment she is "loving it here" and embracing the sector's challenges.

"It's always the Coast Guard and the mission that brings me back," she said.

The search and rescue numbers here have certainly caught her attention. So far, in 2019, 93 people have lost their lives in the sector in boating or swimming accidents.

"That's 12 more than in all of 2018," Littlejohn said. "That's a big deal for us."

So throughout the summer season, both active duty and auxiliary Coast Guard members have blitzed the sector's waterways, engaging boaters with what they believe is life-saving information.

"You should never be on a boat without a life jacket," Littlejohn said. "A life jacket is the number one thing that can increase your chance for survival if you end up in the water. We've taught over 800 boaters how to be safe."

With search and rescue and safety education working hand in hand, Littlejohn says her command also pays close attention to defending the Great Lakes from pollution. It's a mission she has vast and unique experience in, having spent much of her San Francisco tour of duty is designing and planning spill response.

"We have teams that will go out and monitor spills," Littlejohn said. "It happens quite frequently; you’d be surprised."

She also noted that the operators of vessels are responsible for cleaning up their spills and "making the environment safe."

"The lakes need to be safe, secure, and free of pollution," Littlejohn said