The commandant of the Coast Guard was sworn in on the first of the month, but the 27th Coast Guardsman to hold the position is unlike any of her predecessors.

Adm. Linda Fagan, previously the branch’s second in command, assumed the position on June 1 at a change-of-commandant ceremony in which outgoing head Adm. Karl L. Schultz was relieved of his duties and retired. The ceremony took place at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on a sweltering summer day with a crowd in attendance to witness the first woman to lead a branch of the U.S. armed forces assume the role.