Executive Officer's Biography

Lieutenant Commander Caroline Kearney

Lieutenant Commander Caroline Kearney is a native of West Hartford, Connecticut.  She attended the United States Coast Guard Academy, graduating in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering with high honors.  Her first tour was aboard the USCGC THETIS (WMEC-910), homeported in Key West, Florida, where she served as an Engineering Officer in Training and Damage Control Assistant.  From there, she was selected to attend flight training.  She earned her Naval Aviator “Wings of Gold” in 2011, and was named to the “Commodore’s List with Distinction,” which is achieved by less than five percent of student aviators.  She served as an MH-65 helicopter pilot at Group/Air Station North Bend, Oregon, where she was selected for and completed the Aeronautical Engineering Program.  In 2011, Lieutenant Commander Kearney was assigned as the MH-65 Engineering Officer at Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, then fleeted up to Assistant Engineering Officer, responsible for 120 people in the maintenance and support of three MH-65D Dolphin and three HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft.  She currently serves as the Executive Officer at the Coast Guard Aviation Technical Training Center, Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

Lieutenant Commander Kearney’s personal awards include two Coast Guard Commendation Medals, two Coast Guard Achievement Medals, and two Commandant’s Letter of Commendation ribbons.  She is also a 2013 recipient of the Captain Marion “Gus” Shrode Coast Guard Aviation Flight Safety Award.  She holds an Aircraft Commander designation in the MH-65D helicopter, and has an FAA commercial pilot’s license in both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft.

Lieutenant Commander Caroline Kearney is married to Lieutenant Commander Dan Kearney, who is also an MH-65D Dolphin helicopter pilot.  She has two young sons, Benjamin and Thomas.