Top-ranking black officer retires from U.S. Coast Guard

Vice Adm. Brown confronted racism face to face during his 36-year career

Washington — With three words, Vice Admiral Manson Brown brought to a close his 36-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard and his pioneering role as the highest-ranking black officer in the history of the sea service.

“I stand relieved,” Brown said Wednesday at a change of command ceremony at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington. Brown, who grew up in Washington’s Petworth neighborhood, joined the Coast Guard in 1978 and rose to become a three-star admiral.

Adm. Robert Papp, the Coast Guard commandant, said Brown had stood on the shoulders of black officers before him and that those who follow owe Brown a debt for his service. Papp said Brown played a crucial role in developing the careers of minorities in the Coast Guard.

“While we still have a long way to go, I credit Manson Brown for speaking truth to power,” Papp said.

Serving aboard the icebreaking cutter Glacier during his first assignment as a young officer, Brown said he had to confront racism almost immediately. He noticed that one older white subordinate, a popular chief petty officer, seemed agitated by his presence. Brown decided to settle the matter face to face.

“He said there was no way he was going to work for a black man,” Brown said. “My head pounded with anger and frustration.”

But other enlisted leaders on the ship rallied behind Brown. Throughout the rest of his career, Brown was recognized for his inspirational leadership and zeal.

He assumed positions of responsibility in Florida, Hawaii and California, where he oversaw counter- narcotics trafficking missions and other operations spanning 73 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean. He served as the military assistant to two U.S. secretaries of transportation and spent three months in Iraq in 2004, leading the restoration of two major ports.

In recent years, Brown led a Coast Guard effort to improve sexual assault prevention and outreach. A civil engineer by training, he also oversaw recovery operations after Superstorm Sandy wrought $270 million in damage to Coast Guard property, Papp said.

Brown retired as deputy commandant for mission support and commander of Coast Guard headquarters in Washington.