Angela McShan (4 May 1961 – December 29, 2000) was a highly regarded Coast Guardsman in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

. In 1999 McShan was the first African-American to be appointed an instructor at the Chief Petty Officers' Academy. In 2000 McShan was the Coast Guard's first African-American woman to be promoted to

Master Chief Petty Officer A master chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards, usually above some grade of petty officer. United States Master chief petty officer (MCPO) is the ninth (just below the rank of MCPON) enliste ...

. McShan enlisted in the Coast Guard in July 1979. For her first fourteen years in the Coast Guard she served as a storekeeper. In her final six years McShan served as a yeoman, a civil rights counselor, and finally, an instructor. She was promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer two months before her death in 2000 from cancer.

Legacy

In 2002 the Coast Guard created the YNCM Angela McShan Inspirational Leadership Award in her name. In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

's most senior

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

, proposed that all 58 cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted sailors in the Coast Guard, or one of its precursor services, who were recognized for their heroism. In 2014 the Coast Guard announced that the 35th cutter would be named the USCGC ''Angela McShan''. The ''Angela McShan'' was commissioned in

Cape May, New Jersey Cape May (sometimes Cape May City) is a City (New Jersey), city and seaside resort located at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located on the Atlantic Ocean ...

, in October, 2019, at a major Coast Guard base where she had served part of her Coast Guard career.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McShan, Angela 1961 births 2000 deaths United States Coast Guard non-commissioned officers Female United States Coast Guard personnel People from Tuscaloosa, Alabama Military personnel from Alabama Deaths from cancer in Rhode Island 20th-century American women 20th-century American people