Captain La Duca
Captain Michelle La Duca graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Ocean Engineering and was commissioned an Ensign in the Civil Engineer Corps. In 1997 she received a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2014, she received her Doctorate in Industrial Engineering with a dissertation focus on Role Conflict and Employee Retention of Federal Engineers.
La Duca’s first assignment was as an assistant resident officer in charge of construction at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington. She then served as planning officer in the Public Works Department at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda Maryland. Her next tour was with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 home ported in Port Hueneme, California, where she served as Charlie Company commander and the S7 training officer. After attending graduate school, she was assigned as the assistant public works Officer for Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan.
La Duca then served on the Southwest Regional staff as the operations officer for the Assistant Chief of Staff for Facilities in San Diego, California where she was selected as the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Military Engineer of the Year. Her follow-on tour was as the Seabee Enlisted Community manager in Arlington, Virginia.
La Duca subsequently served as the Resident officer in charge of construction in Charleston, South Carolina where she also served a six month Individual Augment assignment with the Office of Security Cooperation, Afghanistan, in Kabul.
Returning from Afghanistan, La Duca was assigned to the Commander, Navy Installations Com-mand/N46 staff as an action officer. From there she was assigned to NAVFAC Washington as the Blue IPT lead and assistant operations officer and then operations officer. She then went to NAVFAC Headquarters to serve as the Total Force director. There she was selected for command and served as the commanding officer, NAVFAC Far East responsible for the Japan, Korea and Singapore regions.
La Duca is a Seabee Combat Warfare Officer, a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a member of the Navy Acquisition Professional Community, a Certified Energy Manager and a member of the Society of American Military Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers and the American Society of Engineering Managers.
Her personal decorations include the Legion of Merit (2 awards), Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards), Navy Commendation Medal (4 awards) and the Navy Achievement Medal.