Chanel Lee becomes new commander of Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City

Cmdr. Chanel Lee took command of Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City on July 14, succeeding retiring commander Ryan Hawn in a ceremony at the station. The change puts a new leader in charge of one of the region’s most important emergency-response assets at the height of the boating season.

Air Station Traverse City does far more than host ceremonies and command changes. Its crews support search and rescue, public safety, and maritime operations over West Grand Traverse Bay and the surrounding waters, where fast-moving weather and heavy summer traffic can turn routine outings into emergencies. For boaters, beachgoers, pilots, and shoreline communities across northern Michigan, the station is part of the safety net that answers when conditions deteriorate.

Hawn left after 21 years of service, giving the handoff the weight of a long-planned transition rather than a routine rotation. Lee brings a background that combines aerospace engineering and aviation, a pairing that can shape decisions on readiness, training, personnel management, and coordination with other agencies when the station is called on to respond quickly.

Lee also arrives with a place in Coast Guard history. She is the first African American woman to fly the service’s MH-60 J-Hawk helicopter, a milestone that adds symbolic significance to a role rooted in practical demands. At a station where crews can be launched for rescues, marine support, and other urgent missions, leadership is measured less by ceremony than by how well the unit stays prepared for the next call.

The command change matters locally because Air Station Traverse City sits at the intersection of summer recreation, tourism, and emergency response. The region’s lakes, bays, and busy shoreline draw more traffic in the warm months, and that raises the stakes for the crews responsible for reaching people in trouble and backing up other public-safety partners. Lee now inherits that responsibility as northern Michigan moves through one of its busiest stretches of the year.