Captain Laura Collins, U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area Operations Officer will come and speak to Alameda County MOAA Chapter on 13 June, 2018.

         Captain Collins, a 1994 graduate of the United States Coast Guard Academy, studied electrical engineering at the academy and began her career as an officer on a buoy tender followed by a tour aboard the Barque Eagle. “The ability to do something really cool right after school, getting on a buoy tender, sounded really fun to me to start out life like that,” she said. “It was super hard because of the professional learning curve, but it was fun.” I think we have a motivated speaker here folks!

         Captain Collins served on five cutters as department head and executive officer prior to becoming Commanding Officer of the Cutter Bertholf.  Captain Collins has also served as military aide to two Department of Homeland Deputy Secretaries and at the Rand Corporation as a fellow.

         All this experience has culminated in her most recent assignment as Pacific Area Operations Officer, or “PAC-3” if you prefer the Department of Defense nomenclature. She manages Coast Guard assets spanning half the globe from Montana to Madagascar and from the North to the South Poles. A very busy individual indeed, she will come tell us about her career as a Cutterman, PACAREA Operations and everything in between.