Elizabeth Neely (b. 1960), of Tacoma Park, Maryland, served in the United States Coast Guard as a photojournalist from 1983-1991 and in the Coast Guard Reserve from 1991-1993. Elizabeth Neely was born 22 June 1960 in Takoma Park, Maryland. In 1978, Neely graduated from Falls Church High School in Northern Virginia and went on to Northern Virginia Community College for a year. After that, she worked at few jobs, before deciding to join the United States Coast Guard. Neely joined the Coast Guard 31 October 1983 in Alexandria, Virginia and was sent to Cape May, New Jersey for bootcamp. Neely's first duty station was the in Boston, Massachusetts. She was a part of the search and rescue boat crew, her job included listening on the radio for distress calls, rescuing people, and oil containment. Neely did this for year and a half before going to advanced training at Defense Information School at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana. Her specialty was in journalism and while in school she practiced writing, grammar and how to structure articles. Neely graduated from her advanced training in 1985 and went to her next duty station at the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. While there she had multiple jobs, her first was working with the Coast Guard historian. Her second job was as an assistant editor of the Coast Guard Magazine and her last job was on the Coast Guard national photo team, becoming the first woman on the team. In 1988, Neely went to her next duty station in the 11th Coast Guard District at Long Beach, California as a public affairs specialist. This entailed creating newsletters and press releases, as well as maintaining media and community relations. Her last duty station was in 1990 at the 12th Coast Guard District in Alameda, California as the lead public affairs specialist. After this, Neely would move to Washington D.C and transitioned from active duty to the Coast Guard Reserve. For her Reserve duty she worked at the Coast Guard Headquarters for two years before leaving the Reserve. Neely then pursued a career in quality management.
