RANGELEY — The Rangeley Border Patrol Station recently welcomed its first female border patrol agent and its first female supervisory border patrol agent. Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Heidi Klozotsky and Border Patrol Agent Veronica Atkinson opened a new chapter for the Rangeley Station with their arrival. Currently, female agents comprise approximately 5 percent of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Klozotsky arrived from Grand Marais, Minnesota, in late 2018, followed shortly thereafter by Atkinson from Rio Grande City, Texas. The two agents bring more than 15 years of federal law enforcement experience to the station.

When asked how they feel about being the first women at the station, their reply is humble, “We see ourselves as just another agent,” said Atkinson. Klozotsky added, “We are here to do a job and protect and serve our country just like all of the other agents.”

Klozotsky is the first female supervisor at the station. As a native of Wisconsin she is no stranger to cold weather or the outdoors. Her career began with the Wisconsin Army National Guard where she was a chemical operations specialist. She joined the U.S. Border Patrol in 2007, when she was stationed in Wilcox, Arizona.

She served a tour in Iraq from 2009 to 2010 as a member of the National Guard before returning to the Border Patrol. Klozotsky resides in the area with her husband and their four children.

Atkinson grew up in a border community where she lived through the on-duty death of her uncle — an El Paso patrolman — which stoked her desire to serve in law enforcement.

Shortly after joining the Border Patrol she was given news that her baby was diagnosed with autism. She resigned to focus her energy and attention on her newborn child. Once her daughter reached school age, Atkinson reapplied to the Border Patrol and was hired in 2013, when she was stationed in Rio Grande City, Texas. In that role she leveraged her personal knowledge and experience of growing up along the border to successfully bridge the gap between the local community and the Border Patrol. In this effort, she served as the community liaison and the public land liaison.

In late 2018, Atkinson and her husband, Agent Anthony Atkinson, received a transfer to Houlton Sector, Rangeley Station, making her the first female agent in the station’s history.