16
U.S. COAST GUARD EDITION, THE DAILY ADVANCE, THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2022
Manning helps public affairs unit respond after emergencies BY JULIAN EURE Managing Editor
H
alfway into what she hopes will be at least a 20-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard,
Class Meredith Manning has already taken part in a number of missions she describes as both “interesting and rewarding.”
Even though she grew up in a Coast Guard City — Wilmington became East Coast in 2003 — and was in a Navy ROTC program in high school, Manning said she spent a few years colleges” before realizing she “had path.”
Two of the most memorable, Manning says, were deploying to the Arctic Circle aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy and then to Miami and Puerto Rico in the aftermath of HurriDuring her assignment aboard the Healy as part of the Coast Guard’s Operation Arctic Shield, Manning — a public affairs specialist currently attached to the Public Information Assist Team at the National Strike Force Coordination Center — got to see plenty of Alaska wildlife and both dive since 2006. A few months later, after Hurricane Maria barreled across the Caribbean, she served as a media relations specialist in Miami and then as a joint specialist in hard-hit Puerto Rico. est in emergency response because I saw what an incredible impact the Coast Guard can have to communities that are experiencing a natural disaster or emergency,” Manning said. Though she’s now been a Coastie
Manning, 36, said she’s not sure if it was “familiarity or the proximity” decided to give the Coast Guard a try, noting it was the only service branch she considered. She said “it felt like reer path for me,” she said, noting she plans to complete at least 20 years in the service. Manning said she chose her public affairs rate while still in Coast Guard boot camp. She said Coast Guard to all of the service’s rates to “help us get an idea of which direction we may want to go.” She initially was interested in maritime law enforcement “but immediately changed my mind” after learning about the Coast Guard’s public affairs rate, she said. “I was drawn to the idea of being able to experience so many parts of the Coast Guard through one rate and being able to share those experiences through stories and imagery,” she
Meredith Manning, a public affairs specialist currently attached to the Public Information Assist Team at the National Strike Force Coordination Center, enjoys working as part of a team that provides crisis communication assistance and training during emergency response incidents and exercises. Submitted photo
said.
