Veteran for Life:
Orlando Oliver

U.S. Coast Guard
1981-2011
Contract Specialist

My military career was amazing for me; it transformed my life into a magical experience.

My military career was amazing for me, transforming my life into a magical experience.

The journey started in 1981 stationed in Alaska doing whale patrol, aboard one of our Coast Guard ships saving whales from poachers, moving on to Florida for drug patrol, chasing drug runners in the Caribbean, busting $279 million in uncut cocaine, and rescuing more than 600 hundred Cubans and migrants who had tried to sail into the United States.

After doing that for 10 years, I moved on to one of the biggest highlights of the Coast Guard: being station abroad an ice breaker, sailing down to the South Pole and Antarctica, breaking massive ice flows so that supply ships can get through to the base.

I moved on to the midwest in charge of logistics, handling floods in the St Louis area, rescuing flood victims from raging waters. Coordinating with more than 10 Coast Guard helicopters, we saved many lives during my four years there.

My last station before retiring was Guam, a very nice country where I enjoyed running the sector logistics support and visiting Japan. My career came to an end—the magic was over in September 2011.