A Woman's War: The Professional and Personal Journey of the Navy's First African American Female Intelligence Officer

by Gail Harris, Pam McLaughlin

Overview

When Gail Harris was assigned by the U.S. Navy to a combat intelligence job in 1973, she became the first African American female to hold such a position. Her 28-year career included hands on leadership in the intelligence community during every major conflict from the Cold War to Desert Storm to Kosovo, and most recently at the forefront of one of the Department of Defense's newest challenges: Cyber Warfare. At her retirement, she was the highest ranking African American female in the Navy.

A Woman's War: The Professional and Personal Journey of the Navy's First African American Female Intelligence Officer is an inspirational memoir that follows Gail Harris's career as a naval intelligence officer, sharing her unique experience and perspective as she completed the complex task of providing intelligence support to military operations while also battling the status quo, office bullies, and politics. This book also looks at the way intelligence is used and misused in these perilous times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810867932
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/08/2009
Series:	Security and Professional Intelligence Education Series , #10
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Gail Harris spent 28 years in the Navy working as an intelligence officer.

Pam McLaughlin is a retired teacher and has been working since retirement as a ghost writer and copy editor.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Editor's Foreword Jan Goldman xi

Introduction: We're All Battling Someone or Something... xiii

1 In the Beginning... A Dream 1

2 First Assignment-A Magnificent Obsession 16

3 Persistence-The Key to Success 31

4 Faith 59

5 So I'm Fat... At Least My Uniform Fits: My Personal Battle of the Bulge 79

6 You're Going to Lose a Few Battles ... Focus on Winning the War 94

7 Living in Foreign Lands: Stuff They Don't Tell You in the Travel Books 109

8 What If You're the Problem? 125

9 The Importance of Mentors 141

10 Is Being Single the Worst Thing That Can Happen to You? 168

11 Bloom Where You're Planted, or How I Became an Iraqi Expert 179

12 The Forgotten Iraq War, 1991-2003 196

13 Rivers in the Desert 218

14 Cyber Warfare: A New Form of Terror 228

15 Conclusion: Reflections of a Retired Black Woman 258

About the Authors 269

Editorial Reviews

Harris became the first black woman to work in military intelligence when she joined the U.S. Navy in 1973. She has worked in every major conflict, from the cold war to the more recent challenges of cyberwar, but her particular battlefield has been sexism and racism in the military. She recalls her early desire to join the military despite the decidedly antimilitary mood of the nation because of the Vietnam War. An early mentor, when she was at the University of Denver School of International Studies, was Josef Korbel, Madeline Albright’s father. When she joined the navy, there were few women, and they were mostly confined to nursing or administrative work. When opportunities did open up, she had to guard against being treated as a token or being bullied in the male-dominated culture. Harris rightly sees the lessons of stamina and determination learned from her personal and professional life as applying more broadly to women beyond the military.

Booklist

A revealing look at the inner workings of the United States Intelligence community....This informative and fact-filled book answers many questions the public may have about how our leaders make tactical decisions in times of national emergencies. The behind-the-scenes look at the massive amount of data that must be sorted, and its importance evaluated, boggles the mind.

The Durango Herald News

A Woman's War is an inspirational story for career intelligence professionals in general and for African American women in particular. A really valuable contribution to the intelligence literature.

Studies In Intelligence

This autobiography is part personal journal, part motivational speech, part history, and part how women began to play key roles in the intelligence field.. . .The book is full of ideas, advice, historical moments, and life. It is not a heavy read, and can be picked up and put down over a period of time without losing its value. In some ways, it provides a reality check to those thinking of joining the armed forces; for others, it is a story of determination, perseverance, spirituality, and success.

American Intelligence Journal

Harris became the first black woman to work in military intelligence when she joined the U.S. Navy in 1973. She has worked in every major conflict, from the cold war to the more recent challenges of cyberwar, but her particular battlefield has been sexism and racism in the military. She recalls her early desire to join the military despite the decidedly antimilitary mood of the nation because of the Vietnam War. An early mentor, when she was at the University of Denver School of International Studies, was Josef Korbel, Madeline Albright's father. When she joined the navy, there were few women, and they were mostly confined to nursing or administrative work. When opportunities did open up, she had to guard against being treated as a token or being bullied in the male-dominated culture. Harris rightly sees the lessons of stamina and determination learned from her personal and professional life as applying more broadly to women beyond the military.--Booklist

A revealing look at the inner workings of the United States Intelligence community....This informative and fact-filled book answers many questions the public may have about how our leaders make tactical decisions in times of national emergencies. The behind-the-scenes look at the massive amount of data that must be sorted, and its importance evaluated, boggles the mind.--The Durango Herald News

A Woman's War is an inspirational story for career intelligence professionals in general and for African American women in particular. A really valuable contribution to the intelligence literature.--Studies In Intelligence

From the Publisher

Harris became the first black woman to work in military intelligence when she joined the U.S. Navy in 1973. She has worked in every major conflict, from the cold war to the more recent challenges of cyberwar, but her particular battlefield has been sexism and racism in the military. She recalls her early desire to join the military despite the decidedly antimilitary mood of the nation because of the Vietnam War. An early mentor, when she was at the University of Denver School of International Studies, was Josef Korbel, Madeline Albright’s father. When she joined the navy, there were few women, and they were mostly confined to nursing or administrative work. When opportunities did open up, she had to guard against being treated as a token or being bullied in the male-dominated culture. Harris rightly sees the lessons of stamina and determination learned from her personal and professional life as applying more broadly to women beyond the military.

Booklist