Gail Harris

Gail Harris (born June 23, 1949) is a former United States Navy officer, and was the highest-ranking female African American in the U.S. Navy upon her retirement in December 2001. She served as the first female intelligence officer in a Navy aviation squadron in 1973. In 1979, Captain Harris became the first female and African American instructor at the Armed Forces Air Intelligence Training Center at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado. In 1989, she became the first female and African American to lead the Intelligence Department for Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron in Rota, Spain, the largest Navy aviation squadron. Early life and education Harris was born on June 23, 1949, in East Orange, New Jersey, to James and Lena Harris, and was raised in Newark, New Jersey's inner city along with her brother and sister. After high school Captain Harris received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Drew University, in Madison, New Jersey in 1971. In 1983, she earned a master's degree in International Studies at the University of Denver's Graduate School of International Studies (now the Josef Korbel School of International Studies), where Condoleezza Rice was a classmate of hers. Career Harris entered the U.S. Navy on May 16, 1973 and was commissioned through Officer Candidate School, in Newport, Rhode Island. In October 1973 to October 1976, Harris was chosen to be the test case for women in Naval Operational Aviation Squadron, and there, she served as the air intelligence officer for Patrol Squadron 47 at Moffett Field, California, her first assignment.