CHEBOYGAN, Michigan — A junior officer assigned to Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw was promoted to the rank of lieutenant junior grade during a ceremony aboard the ship, moored at its homeport of Cheboygan, Monday.

Matthew A. Smith, a native of Kountze, Texas, and a 2004 graduate of Kountze High School, was promoted from the rank of ensign to the rank of lieutenant junior grade.

His parents, Paul and Kathleen Smith, still reside in Kountze.

Smith is a deck watch officer aboard the Mackinaw, the Coast Guard's only 240-foot seagoing buoy tender/icebreaker, and has three years of active-duty service.

Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree from Stephen F. Austin University.

The deck watch officer is responsible for the safe navigation of the ship and overall safety of the crew while on watch.

The Mackinaw is the nation's only heavy ice-breaking resource assigned to the Great Lakes. The cutter also has state of the art systems and multi-mission capabilities that include: servicing buoys; search and rescue; law enforcement; and the ability to deploy an oil-skimming system to respond to oil spills and other hazardous material releases.

For more information, contact Ens. Katie Braynard, cutter Mackinaw public affairs officer, at 231-597-2030.