New leader takes over city Coast Guard unit

Lt. Cmdr. Charles Bright.

A new leader took command Friday of the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Unit in Toledo during a change-of-command ceremony at the Park Inn hotel.

Lt. Cmdr. Charles Bright, a 21-year Coast Guard veteran, succeeds Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Floyd, who had been the Toledo office's commanding officer since 2009.

Commander Bright previously worked in the office of waterways and ocean policy at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington. After being commissioned as a Coast Guard officer in 1998, he worked at the Marine Safety Office Corpus Christi, Texas, then at several posts in Baltimore.

Among his many achievements are two Coast Guard Commendation Medals with operational distinguishing devices, a Coast Guard Achievement medal, and three Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbons.

In his role in Toledo, Commander Bright will be responsible for environmental protection, marine safety, and security activities in Lake Erie and its tributaries from Monroe to Vermilion, in addition to the international maritime border shared with Canada.

Commander Floyd has been reassigned to the Office of Port and Facility Activities at the Washington headquarters.