One Latina Leader’s Call to Serve in the U.S. Coast Guard

By Tony Khing

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Chase was sitting about 200 miles south of Panama when the main space fire alarm sounded. At 3 a.m. And this wasn’t a drill.

One of the members on board was Ensign Janisse Quinones, who was responsible for the fire response team. Quinones said she was “dead asleep” when the alarm went off.

“I followed my training because I knew my brain was still half asleep,” said the PG&E senior vice president of gas engineering. “I ran down to the repair locker to get the team ready to go. I had the fire response teams out the door and ready to respond in no time.”

PG&E Senior Vice President of Gas Engineering and U.S. Coast Guard Commander Janisse Quinones.

The emergency was controlled within 20 minutes. “I’m a believer of training and exercising,” said Quinones. “My team was trained and followed the procedures, but those are the times you get tested.”

Her time in the Coast Guard, which includes five years of active and 12 years of reserve duty, more than prepared her for a career in the energy industry. “Very little rattles me,” said Quinones, who’s now a commander in the reserves and was just deployed for a three-month mission to assist Afghan evacuees.

Quinones said the missions for the Coast Guard and the energy industry are similar. “We provide a service that’s essential to society,” she said. “The resiliency I learned throughout my military career has helped me understand the difference between a true emergency and daily operations. I can shift my decision making in different areas because I’ve learned a little about a lot and can assemble sound plans to accomplish big goals.”

What attracted Quinones to serve? “I’m a firm believer of the Coast Guard values of Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty,” she said. “The Coast Guard has 11 main missions (such as search and rescue, defense readiness and drug interdiction). You feel your work positively impacts people, the environment and the safety and security of the nation.”

Quinones has been responsible for emergency management operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She was an engineer officer in training on a vessel, overseeing the main propulsion and electrical engineering divisions. Quinones was also the emergency preparedness liaison officer for the West Coast. And that’s just some of her many roles. “It never gets boring,” said Quinones.

“I’ve had seven different stations and three deployments,” she said. “I’ve had to learn each area and the people while adding my touch to each. I bring a lot of curiosity to the transitions. I’ve been humbled by the experience.”

Janisse Quinones says she's been "humbled by the experience" of serving in the U.S. Coast Guard.

For Quinones, Veterans Day “is a day to remember and thank those who serve and are currently serving. It’s imperative that our nation understands the sacrifices our service members and their families have made to protect our democracy and our nation’s safety and security.”

And Quinones knows the sacrifices her family, which includes five children between the ages of 9 and 23, have made when she puts on the Coast Guard uniform.

“The deployments are never easy,” she said. “They are very intense roles, which taxes your mind and body. Leaving the kids for extended periods of time is really hard since I’m usually the glue that brings the family together.”

However, Quinones, who can retire from the Coast Guard in three years, has no regrets in serving.

“It’s a great service, with a great mission and highly competent people who will give you great stories to tell your family and friends,” she said. “I’m blessed for the opportunity to serve the country under the United States Coast Guard.”

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