Current Mariner Success Stories
Ms. Andrea Liebl, Second Officer
Andrea Liebl graduated from The Texas Maritime Academy, of Texas A&M University in Galveston, in 2003 with two things she believes were far more important than her diploma: excitement and experience.
Liebl said it was her academy studies – and her cadet experience on board a Military Sealift Command ship – that laid the important foundation for her career. “During my one month winter cruise, I participated in underway replenishments (UNREPs), flight quarters, small boat ops and was allowed to control (CON) the bridge during watch,” she said.
Cadets aboard commercial ships are often not exposed to the breadth or depth of these shipboard experiences. Liebl observed, “Many of my fellow cadets came back from commercial cruises saying all they did was chip paint or stand in a corner on the bridge and study for their license exams.”
Liebl’s path to the academy was not exactly direct.
A native of Houston, TX, she graduated in the top 10% of her high school class, which earned her admission to any public college in Texas. She chose Texas A&M and planned to major in aeronautical engineering.
The summer before college, the commanding officer of her high school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps unit suggested she look into Texas Maritime’s Summer at Sea program. It was a tremendously enlightening program that gave her just a glimpse of what her life would become if she followed a maritime career.
After three semesters at Texas A&M’s College Station campus, Liebl was bored – and she kept thinking about how great the Summer at Sea experience had been. After significant research, she made the switch – settling on the deck officer’s license program.
Graduating and joining MSC in January 2004, Liebl has advanced quickly. From her first job as an able seaman (watch) aboard USNS Spica to, today, serving as second officer cargo, she has sailed eight tours – and earned three promotions.
“I’ve heard lots of people complain that academy grads are given preferential treatment in promotions,” she said. “But I don’t think that’s true. I really believe advancement is based on the person.”
Further, she said, “People get where they are because of the kind of person and officer they are, not a sheepskin.”
Today, Liebl manages the cargo deck crew and plans all UNREP/VERTREP (vertical replenishment) events on board her ship. She particularly enjoys flight quarters and small boat operations, and is planning to take classes next year so she can eventually get her chief mate’s license.
Among her eight tours, she cites her favorite as aboard USNS Rappahannock. A great crew and master set the stage for her positive experience – but it was the chance to learn new skills that was truly memorable…to include handling landing signals during helicopter flight operations.
Liebl was on her second tour aboard USNS Rappahannock, on Thanksgiving 2007, when the ship was called to an emergency refueling operation near Hong Kong.
Two minesweepers – USS Guardian and USS Patriot – had been denied entry to Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor, a longtime refueling spot for US forces. Low on fuel, they called on MSC to help. Dogged by a growling, ferocious storm, the ships pulled within 200 feet of each other for replenishment.
“That was a long, hard day. We called the UNREP crew out around 0430 to finish the setup,” she said. “It was my first astern operation as cargo mate, so it was a huge learning experience.”
She gives credit to the crew – particularly her cargo bos’n and bos’n mates – for making the operation a success.
Patriot and Guardian were nearly empty when Rappahannock came to the rescue. “Halfway through the transfer, we had to stop pumping so they could pump from the tanks we were filling so they could keep the engines running,” Liebl said. The story was later chronicled in Sealift, MSC’s newsletter.
Rappahannock’s Captain Robert Seabrook praised the efforts of his crew and those aboard Guardian and Patriot. “We practice astern refueling procedures with mine countermeasure ships frequently, and it sure paid off on Thanksgiving Day. I’ve never seen it performed better,” he said.
All part of a day’s work for Second Mate Andrea Liebl.