LT. Elizabeth Klco
United States Coast Guard
USCGC Juniper - Deck Watch Office
Admirals Aid - Assistant Strategic Planning Officer
1998 – 2002
United States Coast Guard
USCGC Juniper - Deck Watch Office
Admirals Aid - Assistant Strategic Planning Officer
1998 – 2002
Elizabeth Klco was born in October of 1979 in Painesvile, Ohio just outside of Cleveland. Her parents were both Ohio natives and came from large families. Her dad was one of 12 and her mother was one of six. Elizabeth said her father eats very fast and performs many chores you wouldn’t expect from a man, because growing up in such a large family the siblings had to learn all the household chores. Her parents moved Elizabeth and her older sister Sarah to Leroy, Ohio to have a little distance from their families. Leroy has only 3,200 residents, no stoplights, one gas station and didn’t have a pizza delivery restaurant until Elizabeth’s senior year in high school. “A tiny town…I loved it. You know everybody and everybody knew you.”
“I had an amazing childhood. It was Brady Bunch, fairy tale like.” Elizabeth’s parents did not go to college. Her dad was a telephone repairman for the local phone company and retired from that job after 38 years. Her mother was a dental assistant. Her parents were always working overtime and second jobs to make sure there was enough money to provide a good life for the girls. In addition to owning a Christmas tree farm her father was also the Township Trustee for many years. Although they didn’t have a lot of money the family vacationed every year in one of the many National Parks. “We drove every single time. We camped every single time. A two person tent for four of us. We definitely have stories to tell of the times we went on vacation.” By the time Elizabeth Graduated from high school she had been to 39 states.
Elizabeth graduated from the Riverside High School in 1998. Riverside was located in Painesville and was a regional high school comprised of students from multiple townships in northeastern Ohio. Only 40% go her graduating class went on to college and fewer went to school outside of Ohio. “All of my best friends didn’t go to college. It wasn’t a priority at that time in our school.” Her parents had different plans for the Klco girls. They were definitely going to college. Elizabeth’s sister went off to college first, but Elizabeth paid close attention. “Every time the National Anthem played, I would get chills and I knew I was going to serve in the military when I was in middle school because I somehow I wanted to give back to my country.”
Elizabeth told her parents of her plans, and they told her to create a list of all of the schools she wanted to go to. Elizabeth identified West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy and the Coast Guard Academy. They cautioned how difficult it was to get into those schools and she would need a backup. Elizabeth had considered that and said she would apply for ROTC scholarships and then enter the military after college. Elizabeth did not qualify for the Air Force Academy but was accepted at West Point, was accepted as an alternate to the Coast Guard Academy and was accepted to the preparatory school for the Naval Academy as well as several ROTC scholarships.
Elizabeth’s first choice was the Coast Guard Academy. It was a smaller service; at that time the missions were primarily humanitarian in nature and the other academies had more restrictions on what roles women could play. Undeterred, Elizabeth called the Coast Guard Academy and told them she had been accepted to West Point but wanted to come to the Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) and asked what she had to do to be accepted. On July 5, 1998, Elizabeth reported to New London, Connecticut for Swab Summer at USCGA despite a fear of drowning.
Swab Summer was six weeks of intense mental and physical conditioning. Having been an athlete in high school Elizabeth handled the physical aspects in stride. She managed the mental aspect by telling herself it was just part of a process that would ultimately get her to her goal. She made some great friends that first summer as they all bonded through the shared suffering and held that in common. Elizabeth’s mother wrote her a letter every day that summer and devised a system for Elizabeth to write back no matter how little time she had. She gave her note cards that were self-addressed and pre-stamped and had messages with boxes for her to check to let her parents know what was going on. There might have been a box to say send food, or a box to say her roommate was great and so on. The Brady Bunch has nothing on Mrs. Klco. Despite that support, she missed her parents.
Initially Elizabeth majored in mechanical engineering because she wanted to be the first female astronaut from the Coast Guard. However, she changed her major to Government. Although her math and science were her strength she didn’t know much about Government and wanted to learn more. She thought college would be a great place to do that. She loved learning about government but her grades in her major were not nearly as strong as the math and science classes. More on that later.
Her summers were not her own. After surviving Swab Summer, Elizabeth spent a week on the Barque Eagle. The 295’ Coast Guard ship is considered a Tall Ship and is used to train future Coast Guard Officers. The ship was taken from the Nazi’s as war reparations after World War II. Her summer before her sophomore year, she spent 5 weeks aboard the Barque Eagle sailing from Panama up the west coast of the United States followed by another 5 weeks aboard the 378’ USCGC The Gallatin, based in Charleston, SC. She spent four and a half of those weeks scraping and painting the ship. The summer before her junior year she taught the new summer cadets how to sail on the small sail boats as well as a week of aviation training in Mobile, Alabama on the helicopters and jet that were operated by the Coast Guard.
The summer before senior year, the cadets spend 10 weeks at a duty station. Elizabeth decided to request an assignment somewhere she would likely never go again. She got her wish and was assigned to a ship out of Sitka, Alaska. The ship was just being completed in a shipyard in Wisconsin. The crew, including Elizabeth, went to Wisconsin to pick up the 225’ buoy tender. They sailed through the Great Lakes, and the St. Lawrence Seaway, and Elizabeth described the trip as amazing. As they rounded the tip of Nova Scotia they began taking on water in the rear of the ship. Somehow Quality Control missed some duct tape on the propeller that melted and led to a leak. They made port in Baltimore, MD where they spent the rest of the summer.
What Elizabeth did learn was that she really liked a buoy tender. It’s primary mission is aiding navigation through buoy tending, but it is often used as an ice breaker and it also fills a law enforcement role. With only 45 crew members and 5 officers, it was a very difficult billet to get.
Your billet was determined by your class rank and Elizabeth’s government classes brought her GPA down which resulted in a class ranking of 116 out of 159. Ever resourceful, Elizabeth knew one of her track teammates who was ranked 2nd in the class had applied for a coveted buoy tender billet. She also knew her teammate had also applied to follow her boyfriend to a different part of the country. An important nugget of information known to no one else. Elizabeth applied and on Billet Night Elizabeth was announced as a member of the buoy tendered, the USCGC Juniper. Imagine the shock of the other girls. Imagine the shock of the captain of the ship. “First Class Klco, I’m so excited to meet you. What’s your class rank because we always get the top ten.” Elizabeth said, “I’m 116 out of 159, but I promise captain, I’ll be the best worker you ever had.” Elizabeth spent the next year working to change the captain’s perception.
On September 11, 2001, it was Elizabeth’s senior year, and she was taking an exam in her Nautical Science class. The students were in one room and the teachers were in another room separated by glass where they were watching televisions. The cadets knew something was up, but they couldn’t be sure of exactly what. After the exam the cadets were sent back to their dorms where they huddled around the television to watch the towers fall. The Coast Guard Academy is located on the Thames River in Connecticut, across from the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, CT. That day every submarine was deployed. “It was very eire.”
After graduation Elizabeth arrived in Newport, RI to join the USCGC Juniper, and was assigned the role of Deck Watch Officer. The Deck Watch Officer held the controls of the ship. They navigated and piloted the ship. She learned through on-the-job training and using simulators. There were also several certifications that she needed to pass. “Thinking back about the responsibilities I had as a 22, 23 year old individual. I cannot believe it.”
The Juniper spent a lot of time in the waterways around New York City. They were anchored in New York Harbor across from the Statue of Liberty to provide security on the anniversary of 9/11. The went up the Hudson River to do ice breaking. They went to Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts to break the ice and return the buoys to their proper location. They also would travel to tend NOAH buoys which were located far out in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Juniper also had qualified and certified law enforcement boarding teams. Each ship was required to have a minimum number of boarding officers and when Elizabeth’s roommate transferred, ship was short one boarding officer. Elizabeth volunteered to become a boarding officer and she was sent to Yorktown, VA for five weeks of training. Elizabeth was the only female in the program. Training consisted of learning how to use a 9mm side arm and an M-16, how to withstand being pepper sprayed and beaten with a padded club to simulate a fight and always protect your weapons.
Rotations in the Coast Guard are typically two years. Toward the end of her first rotation there was an opening for the Admirals Aid based out of the Coast Guard Academy. Elizabeth applied and was chosen in a very competitive process. “It was phenomenal.” Elizabeth traveled around the world with the Admiral meeting US Presidents, foreign dignitaries, and other VIP’s. They traveled to South America to meet with the Naval Academy in Columbia. They were just beginning to accept women into the Navy and Elizabeth spoke to the female recruits to help them understand what to expect. She also served as the Admirals speech writer.
When her three year billet came to conclusion Elizabeth decided to leave the Coast Guard. “There was no job in the Coast Guard that could top this.” Guiding her decision was her experience at a conference with the other military academies. They were discussing how they were all hoping to recruit a football player who was a minority and had all the academic qualifications, especially math, to get into the academies. Elizabeth later told the Admiral that she was going to leave the service and become an inner city math teacher. At the conference she heard that there were not enough minority students in the United States to qualify for the service academies. “I want to be that teacher that gets them those qualifications.”
After leaving the academy she went through the alternate route to receiving a teaching certification. Elizabeth taught 8th grade math for 7 years in New Haven and Hartford, CT. She really enjoyed the teaching and the mentoring. During that time, she also earned a master’s in special education and a Certification in Instructional Technology. When an opportunity in Avon, CT opened to be a digital instruction specialist Elizabeth took it. After 7 years she advanced to the Director of Technology after getting another master’s in educational administration. Elizabeth has made the most of her GI Bill benefits to pay for her advanced education.
Along the way Elizabeth met her husband through a mutual friend. He was also a Coast Guard Cadet but four years ahead of Elizabeth. They hit it off, were married and now have a son.
I asked Elizabeth if she enjoyed her time in the Coast Guard. “Yes. Sometimes I wish I had stayed in…….you see things that happen around this world and there’s this guilt. If I was still in, could I be doing more or helping more? I loved serving my country. Hands down I’d do it again. Maybe I might have tried hard to get into the Air Force. I would die to be in the Space Force.”
While teaching in Avon, CT Elizabeth learned NASA was taking applications for astronauts, and they were looking to send another teacher into space. “This is it!” She told her Superintendent that she was applying to be an astronaut. While she wasn’t accepted it was probably for the best. “I get motion sickness.”
I asked Elizabeth where she develop her desire to serve. She said it was something her immediate and extended family all instilled in their children. “There was something bigger in our lives than just us.” “Giving back to their community. They volunteered in every aspect and every form they could.” “We have so much in our lives that we can give to others. Don’t waste it.”
Elizabeth, thank you for your selfless outlook on life and looking how you can serve the greater good. With the advances in medicine, perhaps a solution to your motion sickness will come along and we will see you in space…..although there is still that fear of drowning.
“I had an amazing childhood. It was Brady Bunch, fairy tale like.” Elizabeth’s parents did not go to college. Her dad was a telephone repairman for the local phone company and retired from that job after 38 years. Her mother was a dental assistant. Her parents were always working overtime and second jobs to make sure there was enough money to provide a good life for the girls. In addition to owning a Christmas tree farm her father was also the Township Trustee for many years. Although they didn’t have a lot of money the family vacationed every year in one of the many National Parks. “We drove every single time. We camped every single time. A two person tent for four of us. We definitely have stories to tell of the times we went on vacation.” By the time Elizabeth Graduated from high school she had been to 39 states.
Elizabeth graduated from the Riverside High School in 1998. Riverside was located in Painesville and was a regional high school comprised of students from multiple townships in northeastern Ohio. Only 40% go her graduating class went on to college and fewer went to school outside of Ohio. “All of my best friends didn’t go to college. It wasn’t a priority at that time in our school.” Her parents had different plans for the Klco girls. They were definitely going to college. Elizabeth’s sister went off to college first, but Elizabeth paid close attention. “Every time the National Anthem played, I would get chills and I knew I was going to serve in the military when I was in middle school because I somehow I wanted to give back to my country.”
Elizabeth told her parents of her plans, and they told her to create a list of all of the schools she wanted to go to. Elizabeth identified West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy and the Coast Guard Academy. They cautioned how difficult it was to get into those schools and she would need a backup. Elizabeth had considered that and said she would apply for ROTC scholarships and then enter the military after college. Elizabeth did not qualify for the Air Force Academy but was accepted at West Point, was accepted as an alternate to the Coast Guard Academy and was accepted to the preparatory school for the Naval Academy as well as several ROTC scholarships.
Elizabeth’s first choice was the Coast Guard Academy. It was a smaller service; at that time the missions were primarily humanitarian in nature and the other academies had more restrictions on what roles women could play. Undeterred, Elizabeth called the Coast Guard Academy and told them she had been accepted to West Point but wanted to come to the Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) and asked what she had to do to be accepted. On July 5, 1998, Elizabeth reported to New London, Connecticut for Swab Summer at USCGA despite a fear of drowning.
Swab Summer was six weeks of intense mental and physical conditioning. Having been an athlete in high school Elizabeth handled the physical aspects in stride. She managed the mental aspect by telling herself it was just part of a process that would ultimately get her to her goal. She made some great friends that first summer as they all bonded through the shared suffering and held that in common. Elizabeth’s mother wrote her a letter every day that summer and devised a system for Elizabeth to write back no matter how little time she had. She gave her note cards that were self-addressed and pre-stamped and had messages with boxes for her to check to let her parents know what was going on. There might have been a box to say send food, or a box to say her roommate was great and so on. The Brady Bunch has nothing on Mrs. Klco. Despite that support, she missed her parents.
Initially Elizabeth majored in mechanical engineering because she wanted to be the first female astronaut from the Coast Guard. However, she changed her major to Government. Although her math and science were her strength she didn’t know much about Government and wanted to learn more. She thought college would be a great place to do that. She loved learning about government but her grades in her major were not nearly as strong as the math and science classes. More on that later.
Her summers were not her own. After surviving Swab Summer, Elizabeth spent a week on the Barque Eagle. The 295’ Coast Guard ship is considered a Tall Ship and is used to train future Coast Guard Officers. The ship was taken from the Nazi’s as war reparations after World War II. Her summer before her sophomore year, she spent 5 weeks aboard the Barque Eagle sailing from Panama up the west coast of the United States followed by another 5 weeks aboard the 378’ USCGC The Gallatin, based in Charleston, SC. She spent four and a half of those weeks scraping and painting the ship. The summer before her junior year she taught the new summer cadets how to sail on the small sail boats as well as a week of aviation training in Mobile, Alabama on the helicopters and jet that were operated by the Coast Guard.
The summer before senior year, the cadets spend 10 weeks at a duty station. Elizabeth decided to request an assignment somewhere she would likely never go again. She got her wish and was assigned to a ship out of Sitka, Alaska. The ship was just being completed in a shipyard in Wisconsin. The crew, including Elizabeth, went to Wisconsin to pick up the 225’ buoy tender. They sailed through the Great Lakes, and the St. Lawrence Seaway, and Elizabeth described the trip as amazing. As they rounded the tip of Nova Scotia they began taking on water in the rear of the ship. Somehow Quality Control missed some duct tape on the propeller that melted and led to a leak. They made port in Baltimore, MD where they spent the rest of the summer.
What Elizabeth did learn was that she really liked a buoy tender. It’s primary mission is aiding navigation through buoy tending, but it is often used as an ice breaker and it also fills a law enforcement role. With only 45 crew members and 5 officers, it was a very difficult billet to get.
Your billet was determined by your class rank and Elizabeth’s government classes brought her GPA down which resulted in a class ranking of 116 out of 159. Ever resourceful, Elizabeth knew one of her track teammates who was ranked 2nd in the class had applied for a coveted buoy tender billet. She also knew her teammate had also applied to follow her boyfriend to a different part of the country. An important nugget of information known to no one else. Elizabeth applied and on Billet Night Elizabeth was announced as a member of the buoy tendered, the USCGC Juniper. Imagine the shock of the other girls. Imagine the shock of the captain of the ship. “First Class Klco, I’m so excited to meet you. What’s your class rank because we always get the top ten.” Elizabeth said, “I’m 116 out of 159, but I promise captain, I’ll be the best worker you ever had.” Elizabeth spent the next year working to change the captain’s perception.
On September 11, 2001, it was Elizabeth’s senior year, and she was taking an exam in her Nautical Science class. The students were in one room and the teachers were in another room separated by glass where they were watching televisions. The cadets knew something was up, but they couldn’t be sure of exactly what. After the exam the cadets were sent back to their dorms where they huddled around the television to watch the towers fall. The Coast Guard Academy is located on the Thames River in Connecticut, across from the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, CT. That day every submarine was deployed. “It was very eire.”
After graduation Elizabeth arrived in Newport, RI to join the USCGC Juniper, and was assigned the role of Deck Watch Officer. The Deck Watch Officer held the controls of the ship. They navigated and piloted the ship. She learned through on-the-job training and using simulators. There were also several certifications that she needed to pass. “Thinking back about the responsibilities I had as a 22, 23 year old individual. I cannot believe it.”
The Juniper spent a lot of time in the waterways around New York City. They were anchored in New York Harbor across from the Statue of Liberty to provide security on the anniversary of 9/11. The went up the Hudson River to do ice breaking. They went to Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts to break the ice and return the buoys to their proper location. They also would travel to tend NOAH buoys which were located far out in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Juniper also had qualified and certified law enforcement boarding teams. Each ship was required to have a minimum number of boarding officers and when Elizabeth’s roommate transferred, ship was short one boarding officer. Elizabeth volunteered to become a boarding officer and she was sent to Yorktown, VA for five weeks of training. Elizabeth was the only female in the program. Training consisted of learning how to use a 9mm side arm and an M-16, how to withstand being pepper sprayed and beaten with a padded club to simulate a fight and always protect your weapons.
Rotations in the Coast Guard are typically two years. Toward the end of her first rotation there was an opening for the Admirals Aid based out of the Coast Guard Academy. Elizabeth applied and was chosen in a very competitive process. “It was phenomenal.” Elizabeth traveled around the world with the Admiral meeting US Presidents, foreign dignitaries, and other VIP’s. They traveled to South America to meet with the Naval Academy in Columbia. They were just beginning to accept women into the Navy and Elizabeth spoke to the female recruits to help them understand what to expect. She also served as the Admirals speech writer.
When her three year billet came to conclusion Elizabeth decided to leave the Coast Guard. “There was no job in the Coast Guard that could top this.” Guiding her decision was her experience at a conference with the other military academies. They were discussing how they were all hoping to recruit a football player who was a minority and had all the academic qualifications, especially math, to get into the academies. Elizabeth later told the Admiral that she was going to leave the service and become an inner city math teacher. At the conference she heard that there were not enough minority students in the United States to qualify for the service academies. “I want to be that teacher that gets them those qualifications.”
After leaving the academy she went through the alternate route to receiving a teaching certification. Elizabeth taught 8th grade math for 7 years in New Haven and Hartford, CT. She really enjoyed the teaching and the mentoring. During that time, she also earned a master’s in special education and a Certification in Instructional Technology. When an opportunity in Avon, CT opened to be a digital instruction specialist Elizabeth took it. After 7 years she advanced to the Director of Technology after getting another master’s in educational administration. Elizabeth has made the most of her GI Bill benefits to pay for her advanced education.
Along the way Elizabeth met her husband through a mutual friend. He was also a Coast Guard Cadet but four years ahead of Elizabeth. They hit it off, were married and now have a son.
I asked Elizabeth if she enjoyed her time in the Coast Guard. “Yes. Sometimes I wish I had stayed in…….you see things that happen around this world and there’s this guilt. If I was still in, could I be doing more or helping more? I loved serving my country. Hands down I’d do it again. Maybe I might have tried hard to get into the Air Force. I would die to be in the Space Force.”
While teaching in Avon, CT Elizabeth learned NASA was taking applications for astronauts, and they were looking to send another teacher into space. “This is it!” She told her Superintendent that she was applying to be an astronaut. While she wasn’t accepted it was probably for the best. “I get motion sickness.”
I asked Elizabeth where she develop her desire to serve. She said it was something her immediate and extended family all instilled in their children. “There was something bigger in our lives than just us.” “Giving back to their community. They volunteered in every aspect and every form they could.” “We have so much in our lives that we can give to others. Don’t waste it.”
Elizabeth, thank you for your selfless outlook on life and looking how you can serve the greater good. With the advances in medicine, perhaps a solution to your motion sickness will come along and we will see you in space…..although there is still that fear of drowning.