Beverly G. Kelley was the first woman to command a U.S. military vessel.

Background

Kelley was raised in Miami, Florida and graduated from the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. In January 1976 she enlisted in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

and then attended

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. ...

in Yorktown, Virginia from February through June 1976. She earned her master of arts degree in national security and strategic studies from the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

in Newport, Rhode Island and a master of science degree in national resource management from the

Industrial College of the Armed Forces The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University. It was renamed on September 6, 20 ...

in Washington, D.C.

Career

Kelley became the first woman to command an American military vessel of any branch of the service, specifically a

Coast Guard cutter United States Coast Guard Cutter is the term used by the U.S. Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. They are or greater in length and have a permanently assigned crew with accommodations aboard. They carry the ship prefix USCGC. History ...

, the 95-foot patrol boat , on April 12, 1979. In 1996, she was also the first woman to command a medium endurance cutter, . In 2000, she became commander of a high endurance cutter, , and made history as the first woman ever to do so. She retired on April 22, 2006 at the rank of captain.

Later life

Kelley was appointed to an open seat on the

Queen Anne's County Queen Anne's County is located on the Eastern Shore of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,874. Its county seat and most populous municipality is Centreville. The census-designated place of Stevensville i ...

Board of Education by Maryland Governor

Martin O'Malley Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as the 61st Governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007. O'Malley ...

in 2011. She was elected to the seat in November 2012, re-elected in November 2016 and continued to serve through 2020. Kelley served as president of the board during the 2018-2019 school year. She was not a candidate for re-election in November 2020. Kelley became a member of the

Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) is one of the oldest Department of Defense (DoD) federal advisory committees and was established in 1951 by then-Secretary of Defense (SecDef) George C. Marshall. The committee is ...

in March 2013 and continued to serve on the committee through 2016.

Personal

Kelley is married to Kevin M. Tokarski, who is Associate Administrator for Strategic Sealift at the

United States Maritime Administration The United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) is an agency of the United States Department of Transportation. MARAD administers financial programs to develop, promote, and operate the U.S. Maritime Service and the U.S. Merchant Marine. Det ...

of the Department of Transportation. The couple have one son.

Honors

Her military decorations during her thirty years of service include: * Three

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

s * Three

Coast Guard Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

s * Two

Coast Guard Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to recei ...

s * One

Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon The Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon is a personal military award of the United States Coast Guard. The award was established in March 1979 by Admiral John B. Hayes. Criteria The Commandant's Letter of Commendation Ribbon is awarded t ...

* Two

Coast Guard Unit Commendation The Coast Guard Unit Commendation is the highest peacetime unit award that may be awarded to military commands of the United States Coast Guard. The decoration was first created in 1963 and is presented to members of any Coast Guard unit that dis ...

Awards * Five

Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

Awards * Two

Joint Meritorious Unit Commendation The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritori ...

Awards * One

Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM) is a military service medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under . The medal may be awarded to members of the United States military (includi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelley, Beverly Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of Miami alumni Naval War College alumni Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni United States Coast Guard captains People from Queen Anne's County, Maryland County officials in Maryland