Ensign Alyssa D. Burns graduated from the U. S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, on May 17, 2023 and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.
ENS Burns completed four years of intensive academic, physical and leadership training, resulting in a Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in Marine Environmental Science.
She is the daughter of Jim & Dawn Burns of Pearland and their second daughter to attend the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. ENS Burns comes from a family of military service, with her father, grandfathers, uncles, cousins, great-uncles and great-grandfathers all having served.
Following graduation, ENS Burns has been assigned to the USCGC Rollin Fritch (WPC 1119) out of Cape May, NJ as a Deck Watch Officer and Support Department Head, with collateral duties as the Weapons Officer and Morale Officer.
The Rollin Fritch is a USCG Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutter (FRC) whose duties include law enforcement, Search and Rescue, Homeland Security and Defense.
Specifically designed for Search and Rescue and the interception of Smuggling activities, the Rollin Fritch is armed with a 25mm autocannon, four crew-served Browning .50 cal machine guns, and a water-jet pursuit boat able to be deployed and retrieved on the go.
As a Sentinel-class FRC, the Rollin Fritch has an endurance of 5 days and 2,950 nautical miles.
ENS Burns’ goals are to successfully fulfill her duties as Deck Watch Officer, serving her crew and the public over the next two years afloat. Longer-term, ENS Burns intends to explore graduate school options leveraging together her Coast Guard career, Marine Environmental Science interests and emerging technologies in Geographic Information Systems.
ENS Burns has subsequently been engaged to a fellow graduate, ENS Nicolas G. Fisher, assigned to the USCGC Lawrence Lawson (WPC 1120) also out of Cape May, NJ.
As one of the smallest and most specialized of the five federal service academies, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy offers a quality higher education and professional development experience. Upon graduation, Cadets go directly into positions of leadership in service to others.
