March 2024 Monthly Meeting

Commander Mary Gilday assumed her position at Marine Safety Unit Morgan City following a tour as the Western Rivers and Waterways Management Deputy for the Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans, Louisiana. In that role, she facilitated waterborne commerce through aids to navigation and instituted the district’s first Marine Transportation System (MTS) Recovery Support Cell duty section. Commander Gilday’s leadership and management helped maintain the country’s most extensive navigable waterway system, ensuring cargo valued at over $5 trillion continued to move safely through the global MTS following natural and incidental waterway disruptions.

Commander Gilday has focused her prior ashore assignments around the Coast Guard’s maritime regulatory mission, taking proactive measures to prevent mariner casualties, property loss, and security risks while protecting the marine environment. As the Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) at Marine Safety Unit Houma, LA, Commander Gilday oversaw the Nation’s largest marine investigation offshore zone and offshore energy port in the Gulf of Mexico’s Outer Continental Shelf. Before serving as the SIO, Commander Gilday served as the Assistant Chief of Inspections for Marine Safety Unit Morgan City, Louisiana, where she supervised and conducted offshore inspections on mobile drilling units, floating and fixed production facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf, as well as inspections of barges, offshore supply vessels, and crew boats.

Commander Gilday’s extensive underway experience includes tours aboard USCGC FORWARD (WMEC 270), as a Deck Watch Officer and USCGC GALLATIN (WHEC 378), as the Weapons Department Head. In these roles, she safely navigated the ships and performed vital maritime operations in migrant interdictions, search and rescue, and other law enforcement operations.

A proud 2007 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Commander Gilday earned a Bachelor of Science in Government. Her personal awards and accolades include the 2020 Congressman James Sener Award for Excellence in Marine Investigations, Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal, five Coast Guard Commendation Medals, the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, and multiple unit and operational distinctions.