Kathlene Contres - Military Career

Military Career

Contres attended the Navy’s Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, where she underwent four months of officer training. Her training involved leadership and managerial courses as well as physical training. In February 1981, Contres was commissioned an Ensign and assigned to the Naval Audiovisual Center in Washington, D.C. In 1983, Contres was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. During her Navy career she has held various assignments, among them the following:

In 1984, she was assigned to Naval Magazine in Guam, as the Quality Assurance and Safety Officer. She was responsible for both weapon and personnel safety. In 1985, she reported to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Hawaii as the Fleet Retention Officer. As Fleet Retention Officer she tracked and reported retention trends for all Navy in the Pacific Fleet region. That same year she was promoted to Lieutenant.

In 1986, Contres was reassigned to the Fleet Manpower Programming Office. There she was responsible for programming billets for all shore activities in the Pacific Fleet claimancy. In 1989, Captain Contres reported to Recruit Training Command in San Diego, California where she served in various billets including Recruit Division Officer and Director of Apprenticeship Training Schools and in 1991 she was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. From 1992 to 1994, she was the Officer in Charge of Personnel Support Detachment, at the Naval Station Long Beach. During her service there, she led her group in earning a record number of customer service and personnel accountability awards. Contres then enrolled at San Diego State University and in 1995 earned her Master of Arts Degree in Educational Leadership. In 1994, Contres was assigned to the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Training Directorate, in The Pentagon, leading the Shore Training Assessments Branch in providing the Navy's training needs analysis for preparation of the Navy Training Budget.

From 1997 to 2000, Contres, who was promoted to Commander in 1996, became the Commanding Officer of the Navy Recruiting District in Buffalo, New York overseeing Navy recruiting in New York and western Connecticut. Because of her recruiting successes she was selected for a follow-on tour at Navy Recruiting Headquarters in Millington, Tennessee, where she served as the Director of the Diversity Recruiting Programs and was responsible for reversing a declining trend in minority officer accessions and enlisted minority accessions to the highest attainment in four years.

In 2000, Contres was named Director, Service and Support Division (Pers-67)at the Navy Personnel Command, where they ensured consistent, comprehensive support for Navy personnel and their families. Among the programs she was responsible for were: Substance and Alcohol Abuse Prevention, Exceptional Family Member Program, Navy Voting Assistance Program, Suicide Prevention, Retiree Activities, Field Support Programs, and Equal Opportunity Programs. Contres holds subspecialties in Manpower, Personnel and Training, as well as Education and Training Management. In 2002, Contres was promoted to Captain, becoming the highest ranking female Hispanic Line Officer on active duty in the Navy. The term line officer (or "officer of the line") is used in the United States Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps to describe a military officer who is trained to command a warship, ground combat unit or combat aviation unit.