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Ever wonder what it's like to work directly with the U.S. State Department and have the tenacity to fight for what you do best? Hear from Capt. Suzanna Brugler, a U.S. Navy Captain who after five tries got the promotion she desired. Her story is one of determination and one that shows it's never too late to quit on what you really want in life.

Capt. Suzanna Brugler, a native of Defiance, Oh., graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1998. Brugler holds a master’s degree in Defense and Strategic Studies with a focus on International Relations in African Studies from the U.S. Naval War College. She's a graduate of the Defense Information School (DINFOS), Defense Institute of Security Cooperation Studies (DISCS), Joint Special Operations University (JSOU), and Defense Security Cooperation University (DSCU).

Capt. Brugler started her career as a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) serving aboard USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) in Yokosuka, Japan. After qualifying SWO she lateral transferred to Public Affairs (PA), and in January 2002 deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to facilitate media coverage of the first detainee flights from Afghanistan. A year later, Capt. Brugler was hand-selected to deploy to Bahrain as part of the Coalition Press Information Center (CPIC Bahrain) and served aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) to assist the first-ever DoD-wide media program for military air strike campaign “Shock and Awe,” marking the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She later served as the Media department head aboard USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).

Brugler taught the Public Affairs Qualification Course at DINFOS in Fort Meade, Md. before serving her last tour on active duty as director of the Navy Office of Information, East in New York City. While there, she served as chief of public affairs for the commissioning of USS New York (LPD 21), a ship built with 7.5 tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In 2011, Brugler transferred to the Navy Reserves (NR) and served as the Africa Partnership Station PAO for U.S. SIXTH Fleet. Subsequent tours include serving as the congressional liaison coordinator at NATO Headquarters, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation in Norfolk, Va., executive officer of the NR Chief of Navy Information Headquarters unit at the Pentagon, and director of NR Naval Special Warfare PA with NSW Group 11 in Coronado, Calif. In May 2017, Capt. Brugler again lateral-transferred to the NR component of the Foreign Area Officer (FAO) community and served as the NR FAO Africa regional lead assigned to U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany. In 2021 she mobilized for one year as the liaison officer for Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. FIFTH Fleet. She was called to serve as the Interagency Coordinator for Task Force 58, the contingency task force that was stood up to facilitate 7,079 Afghan refugees from Kabul to the U.S. during the noncombatant emergency operation ALLIES REFUGE. She finished her NAVCENT mobilization this past May serving as an inaugural member of the Commander’s Initiatives Group (CIG), advising the Commander on global and regional strategic initiatives. In this role, she conceived of, and led, the first bilateral women-in-uniform leadership exchange with the Bahrainis, an event that fostered shared experiences and mutual understanding.

Find Suzanne here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanna-brugler/

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