History-making Adm. Sandra Stosz to speak in Rye. Leader has many 'firsts' to her credit.

Retired Coast Guard three-star Adm. Sandra Stosz has shattered more glass ceilings than Batman. She is the first woman in history to lead a United States armed forces service academy, and the first to command an icebreaker on the Great Lakes.

On Thursday, March 23, Stosz will share her experiences and insights at a Portsmouth Propeller Club event in Rye. Club president Wendy Lull says the evening will provide members of the public a rare opportunity to meet with such a high-ranking and inspiring military official.

“She’s a nationally recognized figure on leadership,” Lull noted.

One of the Propeller Club’s missions is to promote the maritime industry to younger generations for a diverse industry. Stosz embodies that diversity. In fact, when she wrote a book about her career at sea, "Breaking Ice and Breaking Glass."

The former admiral graduated with just the third class of the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, to include women. She returned more than 30 years later to serve as the institution’s superintendent from 2011 to 2015, the first woman of any service branch to do so.

In the years sandwiched between her graduation and returns, Stosz spent 12 of them at sea, starting out as an ensign on polar icebreakers, conducting missions from the Arctic to the Antarctic. She later commanded two Coast Guard ships, including the cutter Katmai Bay (WTGB 101), a 140-foot ice-breaking tug homeported in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. This assignment brought Stosz the distinction of being the first woman to command a Coast Guard vessel in the Great Lakes.

In fact, her list of “firsts” is among the first rank. She is the first person to head both the Coast Guard Academy, which graduates officers into the service, and the Coast Guard’s training center at Cape May, New Jersey, which produces its enlisted recruits. She’s the first female graduate of the academy to achieve flag rank and the first woman assigned as the Coast Guard’s deputy commandant for mission support.

More local news:Portsmouth Naval Shipyard seeks 1,200 more workers, offers $5,000 bonus: How to apply

Stosz finally retired in 2018 as a vice admiral. In 2021, she published her book, which former Defense Secretary James Mattis described as "a prime resource for any leader's library." Copies of the book will be available at the March 23 dinner.

“I didn’t want to be a woman sailor, a woman in the Coast Guard,” she said during a 2022 Women in Homeland Security forum about her book. “I wanted to be a Coast Guard person, known first and foremost for that.”

As a pioneer for women, however, Stosz sometimes encountered animosity and doubt from old-school males in what had traditionally been a more male-oriented environment. But she also developed sometimes-unexpected allies, including a senior enlisted man who once stood up to their commanding officer on her behalf.

The key, she said at the forum, is for people to have confidence in their own abilities. “If you can’t believe in yourself, it becomes hard to survive and cope when you are facing adversity in the form of people who don’t believe in you.”

The Propeller Club's mission on the Seacoast

The admiral’s upcoming appearance with the Propeller Club comes as the organization is seeking to achieve a higher profile within the local Seacoast community. The club is marking its 50th anniversary next year and now has a membership of about 80 people, down from a peak of around 125, according to Lull.

The group was founded in 1974 by Portsmouth Harbor pilots and is part of the International Propeller Club of the United States (IPCUS). More than 70 ports around the world host local chapters of the organization, which promotes maritime education and infrastructure.

“Our members include professionals who work in and around the Piscataqua River and men and women from all walks of life who have an interest in ships, people of the sea and the history and romance associated with the local maritime community,” according to the club.

“If it weren’t for ships, we wouldn’t be here,” Lull noted.

Never miss a story: Follow local news on the Seacoastonline mobile app

She points out that the Seacoast is home to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, a major component of our national defense, while the Coast Guard station just across the river in New Castle has a primary focus on rescue and law enforcement. These are the key missions of a seagoing nation.

“Portsmouth is certainly a salty city,” Lull said. “It is a maritime community.”

Lull is a groundbreaker in her own right, as the first female president of the Portsmouth chapter. She’s now serving her third term, with the first beginning back in 2008. Lull retired as the Seacoast Science Center's president in 2017, having led the Rye institution since its inception in 1992.

The club seeks to be the voice of the local waterfront, championing projects such as the recent expansion of the river’s turning basin, protecting area bridges, and supporting non-profits such as Albacore Park and the Seacoast Science Center. Members also want to promote widespread awareness of the waterfront’s economic impact for the area.

The local group had a team that would put together lobster bakes throughout the region to raise funds spread out amongst the community, Lull said recently. For instance, roughly $100,000 went toward local scholarships for young people attending maritime academies.

The pandemic derailed these activities. As life gradually began to return to normal, the organization realized things had shifted. Networking efforts are now done online, she noted.

“We weren’t doing anything new or different, to keep up with the times,” she said. “We want to be a larger part of the community.”

Another annual event has been Maritime Day, which is traditionally marked with a lobster bake at the local Coast Guard station. The celebration was established to recognize the contribution of the Merchant Marine during the Second World War, as “they were the first in and the last out,” Lull said, carrying troops and cargo through perilous waters.

“Over the years, it became a way to thank the Coast Guard for all the work they do,” she said.

This year’s lobster bake is scheduled to take place June 16.

Details on Admiral Sandra Stosz event

Meanwhile, the upcoming March 23 event marks the first time the Propeller Club’s dinner has been open to the public, and the first when a student rate is being offered. Tickets are $60 a person, with a special student price of $30. Four students from a boatbuilding class at Kittery’s Traip Academy are among those expected to attend, Lull said.

Stosz will be the after-dinner speaker at the event, which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the new Wentworth by the Sea Country Club Pavilion at 60 Wentworth Road in Rye. Dinner is to be served at 6:30 p.m. A buffet dinner will feature salad, pan seared cod, Statler chicken breast and wild mushroom ravioli.

Those interested in attending can register by calling the Portsmouth Propeller Club at 603-759-8384 or via e-mail at admin@propellerclubportsmouth.org. Registration deadline is 6 p.m. Monday, March 20.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Retired Coast Guard Adm. Sandra Stosz to speak in Rye