Capt. Gail Harris served as the first woman intelligence officer in a Navy aviation squadron in 1973. In 1979, Harris became the first black woman instructor at the Armed Forces Air Intelligence Training Center at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado. In 1989, she became the first black and the first woman to lead the intelligence department for Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron in Rota, Spain. She was the highest-ranking black woman in the U.S. Navy upon her retirement in 2001.

Last Updated: 29 March 2023