FLORIDA MOM MAGAZINE - November '08 - Lt Commander Anne Sorracco Story: Michele Gillis Photos: Peter Origlio
Being a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard and a mom can present some challenges. But, Anne Soracco, 37, mom to Elyse, 5 ˝ and Ingrid, 2, has a good system in place.
Soracco works about 10 hour days Monday through Friday. “It is a pretty demanding job and I do take work home with me,” she said. “But, I like my job. I couldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have my husband, Michael. He is a stay-at-home dad and an aerospace engineer who works part-time for NOAA. He definitely keeps the household running and he makes it good for me, so when I do get home I get to have good quality time with my girls. Every second that I’m not working, I am 100 percent devoted to my family. When I get home, the uniform comes off and I switch back to mom mode. It’s not a problem for me.”
Soracco works at Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville in Mayport, which handles many different operations. The main operations of the station are stopping drug smugglers, search and rescue for distressed vessels and sailors and keeping the ports safe against terrorism, illegal cargo and illegal immigrants.
“We make it a safer place not only through preventative action in terms of deterring security incidents and oil spills from happening” said Soracco. “Through those plans we definitely make the port safer in that respect. We also keep it safe for people who do find themselves in peril like in search and rescue. By us making our teams proficient, making sure they can do their job and making sure they are the best they can be in finding a coconut floating in the water at night.”
 Soracco has been the chief of Contingency Planning and Force Readiness for a year. “We have contingencies that we are required by law and by the Coast Guard to be prepared for,” she said. “We have to have plans in place that we regularly exercise. We have a program called “Ready for Operations” and I oversee that. I have experienced people on my staff that go out and test all of our crews on vessels, cutters or search and rescue assets. They go out and test quarterly and yearly to make sure they are capable of doing their job and that every one passes their proficiencies. It’s not only a written test, but we take them out on the water and make them do search patterns.”
 If any search and rescue or law enforcement issue comes up, Soracco wants to make sure her crews are prepared to handle it.
Soracco moved to Jacksonville from Washington D.C. where she was in charge of the implementation of the Incident Command System, which is the system the Coast Guard uses to respond to all hazards. “I was responsible for implementing the Incident Command System throughout the whole Coast Guard,” she said.
She has been in the Coast Guard for 13 and a half years. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science/philosophy with a minor in Spanish/Latin American studies and from Miami University in Ohio.
She is very involved in the Beaches community and recently had Cub Scout Pack 15 from St. Paul’s Catholic Church tour of the base and a ride on a 47-foot search and rescue boat
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