The University of Louisville online student is a lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard. Serving at Sector Ohio Valley in Louisville as chief of the investigations division, she is responsible for overseeing the response to marine casualties in an area covering over 3,000 miles of navigable waterways on 12 major rivers.

Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Queary has served in the Coast Guard since 2014. She began her career in the Prevention Field at Marine Safety Unit Texas City as an apprentice marine inspector. Queary also served in Marine Safety Unit Chicago where she was the assistant chief of the inspections division, and at Hampton Roads Recruiting Office in Chesapeake, Virginia, as an officer trainee.

Queary says her career highlight was serving in the Houston area in 2017 during Hurricane Harvey relief and recovery operations. She was directly responsible for ensuring that ports reopened safely and timely with minimal impact to commerce. Despite the long hours and complex operations, she also dedicated off-duty personal time to help rebuild homes and restore damaged communities.

She started at UofL in spring 2022. Although there were many factors in her choosing UofL, she said the school’s academic reputation and variety of majors/programs were at the top of her list. She also appreciated that UofL is military friendly.��

With an expected graduation in December 2023, Sasha intends to use her degree continuing to serve as part of the Coast Guard’s recruiting mission. After retirement from the Coast Guard, she plans to use the knowledge, skills and qualifications learned in the program as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advocate in the private sector or academia.

Aug 4, 2023, is the 233rd birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard and its precursors, the Revenue Marine, the Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Life Saving Service.

Retired Capt. Martha Kotite will present “Telling Their Stories: A Celebration of Women Veterans” at 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 22, at Chao Auditorium in UofL’s Ekstrom Library. Veterans advocate Heather French Henry will emcee.

Admission is free but RSVPs are needed by email at women.veterans@ky.gov. The Kentucky veterans affairs department also will furnish parking for the first 100 people who RSVP.

Kotite will discuss the importance of the female veteran experience and its significance in relating military history, drawing upon the stories she collected in writing five books: “Changing the Rules of Engagement: Inspiring Stories of Courage and Leadership from Women in the Miltary,” “My Name is Old Glory: A Celebration of the Star-Spangled Banner,” “Legacy: A History of the Coast Guard Foundation,” “So Others May Live: Coast Guard’s Rescue Swimmers” and “Innovators: Rock Stars of STEM”. The program will conclude with a book-signing event with Kotite.

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About Martha Kotite

Kotite’s leadership style empowered her to be one of the first female officers to serve aboard two Coast Guard cutters with all male crews.��Patrolling the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans as well as the Caribbean Sea, she remained true to herself while changing the rules of engagement.

A graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a masters from Harvard University, Kotite rose to the senior rank of captain and is an award-winning author of five books. Her presentations are influenced by her 29-year career serving at sea and ashore and the courageous trailblazers she has profiled in her books.

Kotite earned numerous personal and team awards for her mobilizations during national disasters, missions saving lives at sea and work as a public relations spokesperson for the Service, the Commandant’s Press Secretary and as a New York City public relations firm’s account director for IBM.

Kotite lead the Coast Guard’s development of emergency crisis management liaisons across the FEMA regions and nation. She deployed on scene for significant national events like the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and numerous catastrophic hurricanes including Sandy and Maria. Hand-picked by the Commandant, she worked in Washington as the Commandant’s Press Secretary and served at sea on a cutter sailing the Pacific Ocean and as executive officer of a patrol boat patrolling the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Today, she lives in Florida with her family.