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… Championing the advancement and development of
Hispanic
Americans in the federal workforce through training and education
with a focus
on building leadership skills, leading change, and achieving
results! ...
CAPT. KATHLENE CONTRES
Commandant, Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, US NAVY
Captain Kathlene Contres, the Navy’s highest ranking female Hispanic Line Officer on active duty, is the Commandant of the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI), located at Patrick AFB, Florida. She oversees a joint-service school supporting all Department of Defense and U.S. Coast Guard equal opportunity and equal employment opportunity (EO/EEO) program requirements
A native of Spangler, Pennsylvania, she entered the Navy in 1980, after receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Education with an emphasis in Sports Medicine, from Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania. In February 1981, she received her Navy commission at Officer Candidate School, Newport, Rhode Island. Her initial duty assignment was at the Naval Audiovisual Center in Washington, D.C. Other early assignments included Naval Magazine, Guam, as the Quality Assurance and Safety Officer in 1984, where she was responsible for both weapon and personnel safety. In 1985, she transferred to Hawaii as the Fleet Retention Officer, reporting to Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet. A year later, Captain Contres was selected for reassignment 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, San Diego, where she served in various billets including Recruit Division Officer and Director of Apprenticeship Training Schools. Then, from 1992 until 1994, she was the Officer in Charge of Personnel Support Detachment, Naval Station Long Beach, leading her detachment in earning a record number of customer service and personnel accountability awards. Captain Contres then enrolled at San Diego State University, where she received her Master of Arts Degree in Educational Leadership.
Captain Contres’ next assignment led her to the Pentagon. She was assigned to the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Training Directorate, leading the Shore Training Assessments Branch in providing needs-analysis for preparation of the Navy Training Budget.
Captain Contres completed another highly successful tour in one of the most challenging fields the Navy has to offer – recruiting. She was Commanding Officer of the Navy Recruiting District in Buffalo, New York, from 1997 to 2000, overseeing Navy recruiting in New York and western Connecticut.
Due to Captain Contres’ recruiting successes and the “field perspective” she gained while in charge of the Recruiting District, she was selected for a follow-on tour at Navy Recruiting Headquarters in Millington, Tennessee. There she served as the Director, Diversity Recruiting Programs and was responsible for reversing a declining trend in minority officer accessions to the highest attainment in four years (23%) and enlisted minority accessions to 46%. Prior to arriving at DEOMI, she was Director, Service and Support Division at the Navy Personnel Command (Pers-67), a new directorate established to ensure consistent, comprehensive support for Navy personnel and their families. Her programs included Substance Abuse Prevention, Exceptional Family Member Program, Voting Assistance, Suicide Prevention, Retiree Activities, Field Support Programs and Equal Opportunity Programs.
In addition to earning an Education Leadership master’s degree while in the Navy, she holds subspecialties in Manpower, Personnel and Training, as well as Education and Training Management.
Her awards include inclusion as one of Hispanic Business Magazine’s 20 Elite Women for 2006, a 2005 Las Primeras Award from MANA, a national Latina organization, a leadership award from Latina Style magazine, Society of Mexican American Engineers & Scientists Medalla de Oro, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers President’s Award, the Association of Naval Services Officers (ANSO) Leadership Award, three Meritorious Service Medals, five Navy Commendation Medals, two Meritorious Unit Commendations, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, two National Defense Service Medals, Overseas Service Ribbon, the Expert Pistol Ribbon, two Recruiting Service Ribbons, and nine Navy Recruiting Gold Wreath awards.
Captain Contres was recently elected as the President of the Association of Naval Services Officers, whose mission is to improve recruitment and retention of Hispanic Officers in the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps.