Angela McShan
Born(1961-05-04)May 4, 1961
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
DiedDecember 29, 2000(2000-12-29) (aged 39)
Newport, Rhode Island
NationalityAmerican
OccupationCoast Guardsman
Known forFirst African American female Master Chief in USCG

Angela McShan (4 May 1961 – December 29, 2000) was a highly regarded Coast Guardsman in the United States Coast Guard.[1][2] In 1999 McShan was the first African-American to be appointed an instructor at the Chief Petty Officers' Academy.[3] In 2000 McShan was the Coast Guard's first African-American woman to be promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer.[4]

McShan enlisted in the Coast Guard in July 1979.[5] 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.[6] She was promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer two months before her death in 2000 from cancer.[5][6]

Legacy

In 2002 the Coast Guard created the YNCM Angela McShan Inspirational Leadership Award in her name.[7][8]

In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the Coast Guard's most senior non-commissioned officer, 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.[9][10][11] In 2014 the Coast Guard announced that the 35th cutter would be named the USCGC Angela McShan.[12][13]

The Angela McShan was commissioned in Cape May, New Jersey, in October, 2019, at a major Coast Guard base where she had served part of her Coast Guard career.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Vince Patton; David Rosen; Gordy Yowell; Mark Thomas (2019-08-08). "The Long Blue Line: Master Chief McShan—leader, mentor, trailblazer and FRC namesake". USCG. Archived from the original on 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2019-08-14. Master Chief McShan is remembered as one of the Chief Petty Officer Academy's finest instructors. She was an inspiring teacher and mentor, an expert communicator, an athlete and she had an infectious sense of humor. She inspired many students to improve their lives and she left a positive and lasting impression on everyone who knew her. To her, attitude was everything. She truly believed that life was ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to it.
  2. ↑ "Coast Guard Aligns Names with Hull Numbers for its Sentinel-class FRCs". Seapower magazine. Washington DC. 2017-12-12. Archived from the original on 2017-12-13. Retrieved 2017-12-09. The U.S. Coast Guard has announced the names and corresponding hull numbers for its next 20 Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs), each vessel being named for a deceased leader, trailblazer or hero of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, the U.S. Lifesaving Service and the U.S. Lighthouse Service, according to a Dec. 12 Coast Guard release.
  3. ↑ "African-Americans in Coast Guard History" (PDF). United States Coast Guard. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2019-08-01. The YNCM Angela McShan Inspirational Leadership Award was named in Master Chief Angela McShan's honor.
  4. ↑ Paul Finkelman, ed. (2009). Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century. Oxford University Press. p. 319. ISBN 9780195167795. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  5. 1 2 Coast Guard. U.S. Coast Guard. 2001. p. 36. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  6. 1 2 Julia Ledoux (2019-08-12). "Coast Guard's newest cutter to be named after first female African American master chief". Radio.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2019-08-13. McShan lost her battle with cancer on Dec. 29, 2000, two months after becoming a master chief petty officer and had a storied 20-year career with the Coast Guard.
  7. ↑ "Master Chief Angela M. McShan Inspirational Leadership Award". US Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2019-08-01. She served over two decades with great devotion, and is remembered as an exemplary leader and professional. She served as a Storekeeper before transitioning over to Yeoman, a Civil Rights Counselor, and an (A) School Instructor, and ended her career as the Senior Instructor on the Chief Petty Officers Academy staff in New London, CT.
  8. 1 2 Ken Roberts (2019-11-11). "Coast Guard ship posthumously named for Angela McShan of Northport". Gadsden Times. Archived from the original on 2019-11-12. The Angela McShan was commissioned on October 26th at Cape May, where she will be homeported.
  9. ↑ Susan Schept (2010-03-22). "Enlisted heroes honored". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2013-02-01. After the passing of several well-known Coast Guard heroes last year, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles "Skip" Bowen mentioned in his blog that the Coast Guard does not do enough to honor its fallen heroes.
  10. ↑ "U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter". 2010-03-22. Archived from the original on 2010-03-25. Retrieved 2013-02-01. Previously designated to be named the Coast Guard Cutter Sentinel, the cutter Bernard C. Webber will be the first of the service's new 153-foot patrol cutters. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter's name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services.
  11. ↑ "FRC Plan B: The Sentinel Class". Defense Industry Daily. 2014-05-02. Archived from the original on 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2014-04-03. All of these boats will be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes, who distinguished themselves in USCG or military service. The first 25 have been named, but only 8 have been commissioned...
  12. ↑ "Acquisition Update: Coast Guard Reveals Names of FRCs 26-35". US Coast Guard. 2015-02-27. Archived from the original on 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2017-03-25. The Coast Guard recently announced the names of the 26th through 35th Sentinel-class fast response cutters through a series of posts on its official blog, the Coast Guard Compass.
  13. ↑ "Bollinger Delivers 35th FRC". Marine link. 2019-08-01. Archived from the original on 2019-08-02. Retrieved 2019-08-01. The vessel's commissioning is scheduled for October, 2019 in Cape May, NJ.
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