Year No Pos Hgt Wgt B T Cl Ltr Hometown 1976 1B 5-8 Fr * Satellite Beach 1977 IF 5-8 So * Satellite Beach 1978 6 IF 5-8 Jr * Satellite Beach 1979 13 IF 5-8 Sr * Satellite Beach
| Colleen Buckley |
Full Name: Colleen Buckley Awards: 2003 Champions Beyond the Game |
| FSU Career |
| Softball | |
Year No Pos Hgt Wgt B T Cl Ltr Hometown 1976 1B 5-8 Fr * Satellite Beach 1977 IF 5-8 So * Satellite Beach 1978 6 IF 5-8 Jr * Satellite Beach 1979 13 IF 5-8 Sr * Satellite Beach |
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Selected as a Champion Beyond the Game in 2003 This Assistant Director of Flight Operations for the Federal Air Marshall graduated Magna Cum Laude from FSU in 1979 with a BS degree from the School of Criminology. She was one of the first female athletes at FSU to receive an athletic scholarship, being one of Coach Graf's early softball players. Prior to her current position, she had a 22-year career with the United States Secret Service (USSS) with assignments including investigative and protective duties in various cities and with the Presidential Protective Division. She served as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge-White House Division, Deputy Assistant Director-Administration, Deputy Assistant Director-Office of Inspection, Special Investigator and writer for "The Waco Administrative Review." She was the first female in the USSS to serve as a certified Polygraph Examiner, Detail Leader for a Presidential Candidate, and to supervise a Presidential Protective Shift. Honors include being a finalist for the Woman in Federal Law Enforcement "Manager of the Year" Award and a 2001 recipient of a Fairfax County "Professional Woman of the Year" Award. She is also a very active volunteer for Vienna youth activities. This outstanding FSU graduate resides in Vienna, VA
with her husband Kevin and their three children. Relax and Enjoy the Ride Seminoles Join Forces to Ensure Your In-Flight Safety Published in VIRES, FSU Alumni Association Magazine, Fall
2013 Though they went through the same criminology program at Florida State University, and though they occasionally crossed paths later at the Secret Service, it took years before Robert Bray (B.S. '75) and Colleen (Buckley) Callahan (B.S. '79) would partner to lead a prominent federal law enforcement agency - the Federal Air Marshall Service (FAMS), part of the Transportation Security Administration. These days, they're at the helm of their department. Bray spends his days as assistant administrator in the Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) and director of FAMS, while Callahan serves as deputy assistant administrator in the OLE and deputy director of the FAMS. Their high-stakes jobs can get complicated and change without notice, but their overall goal is simple: to detect, deter and defeat hostile acts targeting our nation's transportation system. Finding Their Way to the Nation's Capital Bray and Callahan each took a different path to the world of law enforcement. When she was younger, Callahan's dream was to be an astronaut. She grew up in Satellite Beach, just 15 miles from Cape Canaveral. During her formative years, her father was head of security at the Kennedy Space Center. Surrounded by the space world during a watershed decade that saw the first man on the moon, Callahan naturally wanted to follow in the footsteps of her idols. But her detractors told her that girls couldn't be astronauts. Later, when she wanted to enter the Naval Academy, she heard the same thing. Instead, she decided to pursue law enforcement. After she was recruited by Florida State's athletic department (more about that later), she became aware of the university's world-class criminology program. Bray, on the other habd, had always been interested in law enforcement. He was inspired to pursue the profession by the federal government's Law Enforcement Program, which was created in 1968 to provide financial aid to those already in or planning to enter the field. So Bray made the move north from Broward County. "The criminology program at Florida State already had a very good reputation nationally - even better than the football program's at the time," he says. Callahan, too, notes that many of her classes had a direct impact on her career. Classes regarding the judicial system and psychology were especially beneficial. The Secret Service must investigate threats against the president and other high-profile figures, so Callahan's coursework in abnormal psychology and deviant behavior helped her understand the criminal mind. She was able to sharpen skills that she'd taken with her since graduating. But one of the most formative experiences during her college days actually took place outside the classroom. She came to Florida State at an opportune time, in the wake of Title IX. A standout player in high school, Callahan was offered the first ever softball scholarship at Florida State. Initially it was worth $100. By her junior year, it had turned into a full ride. She became team captain. "It was my first true leadership role," says Callahan, "where I gained experience in building teamwork and camaraderie." Joining Forces with a Fellow Seminole Before working together at the TSA, both Bray and Callahan worked for the Secret Service at the same time, but their career tracks were very different. Bray traversed the nation, taking posts in Denver, Palm Springs, Tulsa and Washington, D.C. He also spent time as a police officer in Miami before heading to the Secret Service. But Callahan joined just a year after graduating from college, after which she was assigned to a variety of protective and investigative duties in Jacksonville, New York City and Washington and on the Presidential Protective Division at the White House. Callahan, who started as one of fewer than 20 women in the agency, became a trailblazer. She was the first woman in the Secret Service to become a polygraph examiner, to supervise a presidential protection shift and to be assigned overall responsibility for a presidential candidate's security. Now, she's the first women to hold her current position with the FAMS. "It's very meaningful to me," says Callahan of her groundbreaking accomplishments. "Our mission and role in protecting the homeland is very important. Equally significant is the opportunity to mentor those coming up in the organization. I also work at ensuring that women and minorities are treated equitably and that they have access to opportunities that were not available to me early on." In the aftermath of 9/11, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act in late 2001. The legislation established the TSA and gave it the responsibility for civil aviation security. Callahan joined in 2002, when there were just 35 federal air marshals. Fast-forward a decade, and that number now is in the thousands. A year after she took her post, Callahan's office hired Bray. He started off as the assistant special agent in charge of the Mission Operations Center at the FAA Technical Center in Atlantic City. Over the next few years he would take a number of different posts within the agency before moving into his current role. A decade later, Bray continues to be thrilled with the transition he made. "We have a lot of great employees," he says. "The federal air marshals are people who want to serve their country and to do the right things. It is very gratifying to see." Working Together to Protect the Nation When it comes to protecting the nation's airways, Bray and Callahan have a myriad of crucial responsibilities. For instance, every day they direct the deployment of air marshals in response to emerging intelligence and threats. These are highly trained federal law enforcement officers that blend in with airline passengers in order to protect the flying public. At the same time, they also deal with the challenges surrounding the management of a significant budget, as well as a variety of human resources and staffing matters. When your job is that complex, not two days are the same. "That's one aspect of the job that attracted me to this field," says Callahan. "When you wake up in the morning, you never know what the day will bring. It's a 24/7 job that includes responsibility for a variety of operational and administrative functions, such as the deployment of federal marshals, incident management, succession planning, staffing, budget, policy, workforce communications and conducting briefings on Capital Hill." It's not easy leading a division with thousands of employees. Callahan describes her position as "uniquely challenging." As an agency newly established following 9/11, they faced the significant task of not only starting from scratch, but also creating and fostering their own law enforcement culture. "Compared to the FBI and the Secret Service, TSA hasn't been around very long," she says. "But the men and women of this organization have accomplished a tremendous amount in a relatively short period of time. I'm proud to say that our personnel continue to work around the clock to protect our country." Though their jobs can get taxing, both Bray and Callahan have enjoyed the unique opportunity to work side by side. "It's been great," says Bray. "(Coming from the same program) helps us understand each other. We have similar personalities. We're both very proactive and expect a high level of performance, professionalism and accountability. We complement each other quite well." Callahan agrees with Bray's sentiments - and keeps strong ties to the Florida State community. She stays in touch with Bernie (B.A. '71, M.A. '72) and Lisa (Kinch) Waxman (B.S. '80, Ph.D. '04), who were also athletes for the Seminoles in the ‘70s. Both currently hold prominent positions within FSU athletic and academic departments. And nearly every autumn, along with husband Kevin, she travels to Tallahassee to take in a football game and visit friends, coaches and teammates. "We both gre up in Florida," she says of Bray, "and enjoy talking about how good the Florida State football team is this year. We love our university. I am happy that we've had the opportunity to work together and very much appreciate the great education that we've received." After all, it isn't every day that the two people in charge of a national security agency graduated from the same university, with the same major.
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| FSU Statistics |
| Softball |
Batting Statistics YEAR AVG GP GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO GDP OB% SF SH SB ATT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1976 .289 135 39 39 .289 .289 1977 .271 70 19 19 .271 .271 1978 .304 50 148 45 0 1 2 53 .358 .304 1979 .297 128 38 1 41 .320 .297 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tot .293 50 0 481 0 141 0 1 3 0 152 .316 0 0 0 0 .293 0 0 0 0 |
| Softball |
Game Statistics |
1979 Date Opponent BAT AVG GP GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB HBP SO SF SH SB ATT PO A E ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feb 27 Chipola CC 2 .333 1 P 3 1 1 0 Feb 27 Florida A&M 2 .286 1 1B 4 1 1 0 Mar 8 Chipola CC 1 .200 1 P 3 0 0 0 Mar 8 Chipola CC 2 .214 1 1B 4 1 1 0 Mar 21 Brevard CC 2 .222 1 1B 4 1 1 0 Mar 21 Brevard CC 1 .182 1 1B 4 0 0 0 Mar 23 Broward North CC 1 .167 1 1B 2 0 0 0 Mar 23 Miami Dade South CC 2 .185 1 1B 3 1 1 0 Mar 24 Miami 2 .167 1 1B 3 0 0 0 Mar 24 Miami Dade North CC 2 .242 1 1B 3 3 3 0 Mar 27 Jacksonville 2 .250 1 1B 3 1 1 0 Mar 27 Florida 2 .282 1 1B 3 2 2 0 Mar 30 Florida A&M 2 .317 1 1B 2 2 2 0 Mar 30 South Florida 2 .333 1 1B 4 2 2 0 Mar 31 Florida 2 .333 1 1B 3 1 1 0 Mar 31 South Florida 1 .320 1 1B 2 0 0 0 Apr 2 Lake City CC 1 .321 1 1B 3 1 1 0 Apr 2 Lake City CC 1 .321 1 1B 3 1 1 4 0 Apr 6 Florida A&M 1 .322 1 1B 3 1 1 0 Apr 6 Flagler College 1 .317 1 1B 4 1 1 0 Apr 6 Central Florida 1 .333 1 1B 3 2 2 0 Apr 6 Jacksonville 1 .333 1 1B 3 1 1 0 Apr 6 Lake City CC 1 .333 1 1B 3 1 1 0 Apr 19 Flagler College 2 .329 1 1B 4 1 1 0 Apr 20 Florida 2 .329 1 1B 3 1 1 0 Apr 20 South Florida 2 .313 1 1B 4 0 0 0 Apr 21 Florida 2 .302 1 1B 3 0 0 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals .302 27 27 86 0 26 0 0 1 0 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |