Biden says 1st female armed services chief is ‘about time’

By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is hailing Adm. Linda Fagan as new Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and the armed forces’ first female service chief. He declared during a change of command ceremony on Wednesday, “It’s about time.” Biden said that “the trailblazing career of Admiral Fagan shows young people entering the services, we mean what we say: There are no doors — no doors — closed to women.” Fagan relieved Adm. Karl L. Schultz. In remarks before around 2,000 guests at Coast Guard headquarters, Biden didn’t mention Russia’s war with Ukraine but said the world’s choices of today will “shape the direction of the world throughout the 21st century.”