The daughter of a Naval officer, Capt. Mollie Bily graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 2003. Bily commissioned in 2003 as a surface warfare officer (SWO), reporting to USS Howard (DDG 83) as the Main Propulsion Officer and Engineering Training Officer. She also earned her surface warfare officer qualification during her first SWO tour. She transferred to USS Makin Island’s (LHD 8) Pre-Commissioning Detachment where she served as Repair Division Officer and Assistant Damage Control Officer.
After transferring into Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) community, Bily earned her Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in 2009. During this time, she also became a licensed professional engineer in mechanical engineering.
Bily reported to Southwest Regional Maintenance Center (SWRMC) in 2009 for her first EDO tour, during which she received her EDO qualification. During her time at SWRMC, she served as the project officer for the USS Rushmore (LSD 47) Extending Docking Phased Maintenance Availably and USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Planned Incremental Availability.
In 2012, Bily transferred to Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet serving as the Mine Counter Measure (MCM) Type Desk Officer where she was responsible for manning, training and equipping all MCMs in the fleet. She was then handpicked to serve as a course director and later Executive Officer of the Engineering Duty Officer School where she developed and trained future EDOs.
Returning to the waterfront in 2017, she joined SWRMC as the Deputy Waterfront Operations Officer and assumed responsibility for all maintenance and modernization in the southwest region. In 2019, she became the Officer in Charge of U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility and Japan Regional Maintenance Center Detachment Sasebo, responsible for the maintenance and modernization of all Sasebo-homeported and forward-deployed ships. Most recently, Bily served as the Program Manger Representative for the DDG 51 Program at Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Bath, Maine.
In June 2024, Bily assumed command of Forward Deployed Regional Maintenance Center, headquartered in Naples, Italy with detachments in Rota, Spain and Manama, Bahrain. FDRMC provides emergent, intermediate and depot-level maintenance and modernization for transient and Forward Deployed Naval Forces in U.S. Fifth and Sixth Fleets through fleet technical assistance, voyage repair, contract management oversight, assessments, and diving and salvage.
Bily’s personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (4 awards), Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal (3 awards), the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal (2 awards), and various other unit and campaign awards.