Holly Petraeus, assistant director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) Office of Service Member Affairs, was welcomed aboard the submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40) to meet with Sailors, Oct. 5.

Petraeus' visit provided an opportunity to speak with Sailors about business practice protection issues that are potentially harmful to their financial fitness.

"I came here because I want the service members here in Guam and on Frank Cable to know what my agency can do for them," said Petraeus. "As an agency, we enforce about 20 federal consumer financial laws and we have a mission to really make the markets work for consumers, specifically for military, in my case."

Petraeus uses visits to military installations to hear firsthand about the financial challenges that service members and their families face, including businesses and scams that maliciously target service members.

"You'll find some businesses market specifically to the military," said Petraeus. "We find often that signed contracts will have service members paying way too much for a product. We want young service members especially not to focus on the monthly payment being charged, but to find out what is the actual total cost of a product."

During the visit, Petraeus had lunch with Frank Cable chief petty officers and received a tour of the ship's bridge, medical department and machine shop.

"I've never been on a submarine tender before, so it was very interesting to see," said Petraeus. "I really appreciated hearing from folks about where they are and hearing what the issues are that are impacting them because I take that back to Washington D.C. and I do get asked 'what are the problems?'"

The visit also provided an opportunity for military personnel to learn about emerging issues which could impact financial readiness and actions they could take.

"[CFPB] is there to see that service members get the financial education they need to make better informed consumer decisions," said Petraeus. "We want them to know that they can file complaints through us, which we monitor. We also work with other federal and state agencies on consumer protection measures."

Congress established the CFPB in 2010 to protect consumers by enforcing federal consumer financial laws, restrict unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices, promote financial education and monitor financial markets for new risks to consumers.

"If they [service members] do have a problem, we encourage them to come to consumerfinances.gov and file a complaint with us," said Petraeus.

CFPB's actions and collaboration has led to more than $200 million in refunds to service members.

"It's really my privilege to serve the military the way that I do," said Petraeus. "As a military spouse, I've moved 24 times in 37 years. I understand the challenges and the expenses of our mobile lifestyle. It's been important to me to give back in this way. My message to everyone here in Guam is to thank them for being way out here doing what they do and we will work hard for you back in Washington."

Frank Cable, forward deployed to the island of Guam, conducts maintenance and support of submarines and surface vessels deployed in the U.S 7th Fleet area of responsibility.

For more information on Frank Cable, visit www.cable.navy.mil or like us on Face book at www.facebook.com/USSFrankCableAS40.

For more news from USS Frank Cable (AS 40), visit www.navy.mil/.