Gail Harris

Captain Gail Harris was the highest-ranking African American female officer in the US Navy, at the time of her retirement in 2001. Her 28 year career in intelligence included hands-on leadership during every major conflict from the Cold War to El Salvador to Desert Storm to Kosovo. She was at the forefront of one of the Department of Defense's newest challenges, Cyber Warfare.During her legacy as a military officer, she served as the first female Intelligence Officer in a Navy aviation squadron in 1973 and the first female and African American to lead the Intelligence Department for Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron in Rota, Spain. Gail built up the US Navy's first course on Ocean Surveillance Information Systems and taught the Anti-Submarine Warfare and Soviet Surface Operations courses.Gail was requested by name to coordinate the Defense Department's Intelligence support for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.In addition to Lima Charlie News, Gail writes a blog for the Foreign Policy Association and hosts a weekly radio show on KDUR in her hometown of Durango, Colorado. Her book, A Woman's War, was chosen as an Editor's Pick for 2010 by the Foreign Policy Association.She also served as a Senior Fellow for the George Washington Center For Cyber and Homeland Security (2105-2017) and is a Senior Advisor for the Truman National Security Project.