Photo By Anna Marie G. Gonzales | Tiffany liga-Saole poses for a photo as part of a feature spotlight story for Women's...... read more read more
This month, we honor and pay tribute to the women – active and reserve, uniformed and civilian – who have served our Navy and our nation. There is no doubt, our Navy is full of trailblazing pioneers who paved the way for more than 134,000 women serving in our Navy today. These Sailors and spouses, mothers, daughters, and sisters, have served in every rank – from seaman to admiral, and in most every job, from naval aviators to explosive ordnance disposal technicians.
At Navy Region Hawaii, we’re spotlighting our own trailblazers. Each of them has a powerful drive for excellence – in both their personal and professional lives – and has played a pivotal role in public service.
Today we meet Tiffany liga-Saole, who is second in command at the regional engineer’s office.
When she was a child, Tiffany liked to take things apart and put them back together to see how they worked.
“I was the kid that stuck the tweezers in the outlet in science lab,” she said in a 2021 interview. “I had a thing for electricity.”
The interview was with Pacific Islanders Encouraging Fun, Engineering, Science and Technology and Tiffany was featured as part of a series on Pacific Islanders in STEM. An electrical engineer, Tiffany is working to complete her Master of Science in electrical and electronics engineering from Ohio University; she received her B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. As a non-traditional college student, she juggled raising a family with schoolwork.
“There was so much studying and homework. It wasn’t easy to stay on top of everything or to stay motivated. What I learned was to break up my study/homework sessions between real life – making dinner, putting my kids to bed, going to the store, cleaning house then a few more hours of studying/homework. It was crucial in my success and helped me to balance school, work, and family,” she recalled.
Today, Tiffany is deputy assistant regional engineer (DARE) for Navy Region Hawaii N4 regional engineer’s office – under Capt. James Sullivan (regional engineer) and Cmdr. Brandon Gosch (assistant regional engineer) – where her goal is to balance efficiency and engineering with the impacts on the island’s land, resources, and culture. She says a big part of her job is informing leadership about “how the decisions and investments made today directly impact the Navy, our Hawaii neighbors, and the future that we hand to future generations tomorrow.”
Tiffany points out that N4 regional engineer’s office is more than just facilities.
“It spans across major facility investment to janitorial services, land use and planning to community outreach, communication, and much more,” she explained.
Although she has been in her role for just about a year, Tiffany is not new to Navy Region Hawaii. She was previously the N4 facilities investment regional program director for Military Construction/Facilities Sustainment Restoration and Modernization, where she oversaw facility investments that averaged $200 million annually.
In her current role, Tiffany and Cmdr. Gosch have been working to re-build their team of professionals. “We’ve focused on instilling the importance of communication and collaboration,” she said. “In this last year, we’ve worked toward coordinated responses to infrastructure failures, extensive assessments and workarounds for mission critical components – all while supporting the future tenants of Navy Region Hawaii and their mission needs.”
Cmdr. Gosch described Tiffany as an incredible engineer and teammate.
“It has been wonderful to see, on top of her technical acumen, Tiffany leveraging her energy, passion, and an innate ability to connect with others to work towards closing our shore infrastructure gaps while managing hundreds of millions of dollars each year,” he said.
“In her current position for less than a year, she has built an N4 team (many of whom are also new to their positions – me included!) with a growth mindset and really created something special,” he added. “She has also pushed the bounds of the DARE position and become integral to external engagements – certainly not a typical engineering gig.
“It has been gratifying to work side by side with Tiffany; she’s one of the hardest working people here at region. For the most part, we’re able to play to our individual strengths to tag-team the tough challenges, but if I’m being honest, she could do my job; I couldn’t do hers!”
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2024 21:26 |
| Story ID: | 467109 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 157 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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