Rear Adm. Zeita Merchant
Commander, Coast Guard East District
Rear Adm. Zeita Merchant assumed duties as commander, Coast Guard East District, located in Portsmouth, Virginia in April 2026. In this position, Merchant serves as the operational commander of all Coast Guard missions from the North Carolina–South Carolina border to New Jersey, leading nearly 3,000 Coast Guard active duty, reserve, civilian personnel and 3,400 auxiliary members. This area spans 1.4 million square miles of ocean, bays, and rivers, several mid-Atlantic ports, the largest U.S. Naval Base in the world, and our National Capitol Region.
Prior to her current assignment, Merchant served as assistant commandant for Workforce Management and Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer. She was responsible for Coast Guard-wide workforce strategy, talent management, and human capital policy during a period of significant organizational transformation. She also commanded the Coast Guard’s Personnel Service Center, delivering personnel services and talent management for over 45,000-members of the active duty and reserve workforce.
Merchant was commander of Coast Guard Sector New York and Captain of the Port, where she directed complex, multi-jurisdictional operations in one of the Nation’s most critical maritime regions and is recognized as one of the Coast Guard’s top Certified Emergency Manager and Crisis Response leaders.
Merchant’s operational assignments include commanding officer of Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Chicago; executive officer of Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Texas City; chief of port operations for Coast Guard Sector Miami; and marine inspector and port operations officer of Coast Guard Marine Safety Office New Orleans.
Her other assignments include special assistant to the 27th and 28th Vice Commandants, U.S. Congressional fellow for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and strategic planner for Coast Guard Headquarters chief of staff, where she advanced enterprise-level policy, workforce transformation, and strategic initiatives across the service.
Merchant is a graduate of Tougaloo College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. She holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree and a Master of Science Quality Systems Management degree from the National Graduate School at the New England Institute of Business. She also holds a Master of Public Administration degree from George Washington University. She is a Senior National Security Fellow of Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Seminar XXI program.
Her accolades include three Coast Guard Legions of Merit, multiple Meritorious Service Medals, Coast Guard Commendation and Achievement Medals, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medals, Commandant's Letters of Commendation, and prestigious civic honors including two honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees. She is also the Coast Guard’s 2018 Captain David H. Jarvis Inspirational Leadership Award winner, an Honorary Chief Petty Officer, an Honorary FDNY Battalion Chief, and a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
(Current as of Apr. 2026)