After retiring from a rewarding 25-year operational career on Active Duty in the U.S. Coast Guard, BMCM (ret) Kat McSweeney attended the University of New Haven where she earned her B.S. in Marine Biology in 2020. She interned as a hatchery technician at a local non-profit ocean farm and hatchery then eventually moved into the ocean farm assistant position; driving boats, growing Sugar Kelp (Saccharina latissima), and harvesting oysters. Kat joined the U.S. Coast Guard in September 1991 and started her career at the Support Center in Kodiak, AK where she struck (on the job training) the rate of Boatswain’s Mate (BM). She was assigned to a variety of units over the next 20+ years to include the Naval Academy Prep School (NAPS) in Newport, RI; CGC MUNRO (WHEC 724) in Alameda, CA; Aids to Navigation Team (ANT) San Francisco, CA; CGC TYBEE (WPB 1330), CA; Station Destin, FL; CGC JUNIPER (WLB 201), RI; CGC MARCUS HANNA (WLM 1554), ME; Aids to Navigation Team (ANT) Long Island Sound, CT; and Sector Long Island Sound, CT. She was the 7th woman to advance to Master Chief in the history of the Boatswain’s Mate rating. She retired from Active Duty in 2016.

Education

• B.S., University of New Haven, West Haven, CT, 2021

Honors and Awards

• CG Commendation Medal with Operational Device
• CG Achievement Medals with Operational Device (x6)
• CG Letter of Commendations with Operational Device (x3)
• CG Good Conduct Medals (x8)