Honoring Veterans: Coast Guard Veteran Alan Spielman

Alan Spielman had an early interest in electronics, which led him to join the U.S. Coast Guard in 1979, seeking training in the field.

Spielman’s Coast Guard career spanned from 1979 to 1988, during which he served as an electronics technician. His most memorable posting was with the USCG Electronic Systems Support Detachment in Ketchikan, Alaska, from 1985 to 1988. In this role, he traveled extensively throughout Alaska, maintaining and repairing electronic equipment on various Coast Guard vessels and aircraft.

Throughout his service, Spielman faced numerous challenges, including a harrowing near-miss during a C-130 flight into Kodiak, Alaska. His expertise was crucial in preparing Coast Guard ships for refresher training and participating in joint military exercises with other branches of the armed forces.

Spielman received a Joint Service Commendation Medal and multiple unit commendations. After wanting to do more physical work, as that decreased with growth in rank, he left the Coast Guard. Spielman continued to work in communications, traveling globally as a commissioning engineer for high-power communications systems.

Following the events of 9/11, Spielman’s sense of duty led him to volunteer for a mission to the Middle East, where he set up over-the-horizon communications systems in support of coalition operations.

In his post-military life, Spielman has served as his company’s Veteran resource representative, and works to preserve the stories of fellow service members, particularly those from World War II and the Korean War.

We honor his service.

Nominate a Veteran for Honoring Veterans

Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s Honoring Veterans social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.

TogetherWeServed

This Honoring Veterans story was prepared with the assistance of Togetherweserved.com, an online community where Veterans can reconnect with those they served with and preserve the memories and photographs of their military service so that this may live on for their family and future generations. Find out more at TWS online.

Disclaimer: A portion of this story was generated by AI. None of the data we reported included personal or sensitive information, and it was fact-checked and edited by a human copy editor prior to publishing.

Prompt Engineer: Hima Thummala

Editor: Kinsey Spratt

Researcher: Paola Negron

Graphic Designer: William Vega