KETCHIKAN, Alaska — Rear Adm. Dan Abel, Coast Guard 17th District commander, and Cmdr. Jack W. Jackson, commanding officer of Coast Guard Base Ketchikan, presented the U.S. Coast Guard Commandant's Proclamation declaring Ketchikan, Alaska, "A Coast Guard City" in a ceremony hosted by the Greater Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce at the Ted Ferry Civic Center in Ketchikan, Saturday.
Ketchikan was chosen due to the close relationship developed through integral support the city brings to Coast Guardsmen and their families.
"As a maritime community it is important for us to both receive this recognition and to recognize the Coast Guard," said Dave Landis, mayor of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. "This is our livelihood. This is where we get our food and work, and the Coast Guard helping our community is key for us."
The six Ketchikan-based Coast Guard units are Coast Guard Base Ketchikan, Coast Guard Cutter Anthony Petit, Coast Guard Cutter Naushon, Coast Guard Cutter Chandeleur, Station Ketchikan and Marine Safety Detachment Ketchikan.
As the 22nd city to become "A Coast Guard City," Ketchikan joins Kodiak and Sitka as the third city in Alaska to be designated.
"Being named a Coast Guard city brings together almost a century of partnership between the men and women of the Coast Guard who stand the watch on the last frontier and the warm and inviting community of Ketchikan," said Abel.
The Coast Guard City program began in 1998 endorsed by both Congress and the Coast Guard to recognize the support Coast Guard personnel receive from a city.
![A cameraman films U.S. Navy SEALs during an episode of the Fox network television series "24" at Camarillo Airport in 2008.](http://images04.military.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail_large/public/2024-04/mil-filming-seals-in-series-24-1800.jpg?itok=WZFSEAJB "A cameraman films U.S. Navy SEALs during an episode of the Fox network television series "24" at Camarillo Airport in 2008. (U.S. Navy)")
