Lieutenant Commander Block is the Senior Policy Advisor for the United States Coast Guard Reserve Forces Policy Board, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Washington, D.C. The Reserve Forces Policy Board serves as an independent adviser to the Secretary of Defense, providing advice and recommendations to the Secretary on strategies, policies, and practices designed to improve and enhance the capabilities, efficiency and effectiveness of the Reserve components.

Lieutenant Commander Block is concurrently assigned to U. S. Coast Guard Headquarters CG-R, Assistant Commandant for Reserve, as the Chief of Strategic Communications Division. Her work involves strategic workforce planning to recruit, access, organize, train, administer, and support national surge capability of over 7,500 reserve members.  Lieutenant Commander Block attended Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia serving as a cadet in the Virginia Women’s Institute for Leadership and receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Business for a Sustainable Future. Immediately thereafter, she attended the Direct Commission Officer Course receiving her commission as an Ensign in 2011.  Her initial assignment was to Coast Guard Sector San Diego, CA as Assistant Chief for Incident Management.  Her next assignment was District One, Boston, MA, where she worked as a Command Duty Officer for the Regional Coordination Center.  She then transferred to Coast Guard Sector North Carolina as the Assistant Chief in Emergency Management, notably serving in the Incident Command Posts for Hurricanes Florence and Dorian.  In 2020, she was selected as a Reserve Component Manager and assigned to her current unit at U. S. Coast Guard Headquarters. She continues to serve in emergency responses to natural disasters with numerous Incident Command Post qualifications.

Lieutenant Commander Block is a native of central Virginia. Her military awards include the Coast Guard Commendation Medal (two awards), Coast Guard Unit Commendation Ribbon, Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendation Ribbon (five awards), Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon, Coast Guard Commandant Letter of Commendation (four awards), and the National Defense Service Medal.

Current as Sept 7, 2022