VADM Patricia Ann Tracey, USN Ret. Oral History Part 1

title:

VADM Patricia Ann Tracey, USN Ret. Oral History Part 1

creator:

Tracey, Patricia Ann

subject:

Navy

description:

Part 1 of 2. Patricia Ann Tracey was born on November 30, 1950 in Bronx, New York. She graduated from Mt. St. Ursula high school in 1966 and attended College of New Rochelle partially because she was interested in their Air Force program. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1970 and, rather than the Air Force, received a two-year commission to the Navy. She went to Women’s Officer School in Newport, Rhode Island for eight weeks and was commissioned as an ensign in 1970. Her first assignment was as a Command Center Officer and Orbital Analyst at the Naval Space Surveillance Systems in Dahlgren, Virginia. She spent three years there before begin assigned to Hawaii, still working in Naval space surveillance for the Pacific Fleet for 2.5 years, a post that she did not particularly like. She attended the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, California and received a master’s degree with distinction in Operations Research. Between 1986 and 1988 Tracey held her first command position, working at the Naval Technical Training Center in the Surface Warfare Fleet School in San Francisco, California. Her next position, held for another two years, was a staff position in the Enlisted Plans and Community Management Branch with the Chief Naval Personnel’s Staff. In 1990, she became the Commanding Officer at Naval Station Long Beach in California, where she very quickly had to assist in the gearing up for Operation Desert Shield. Between roughly 1933 and 1995, she was the director for Manpower and Personnel for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which was responsible for 11 joint task forces in that time. She helped make that assignment more focused on global perspectives for jointness rather than internal and administrative issues, despite the resistance she faced when doing so. Her next assignment was at the Naval Training Center in Great Lakes to address the 20% attrition they faced. In 1995, she was assigned as the Chief of Naval Education and Training, and the Director of Training in July 1996. Also in 1996, she became the first woman to reach the rank of Vice Admiral. She continued serving around the country until her retirement in 2004 with the rank of Vice Admiral, and for her service Tracey was awarded a Defense Distinguished Service Medal with an oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with 2 oak leaf clusters, Meritorious Service Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, National Defense Service Medal, Navy Recruiting Service Ribbon, and French Legion d'Honneur. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Scott, Kate M.

date:

2006-05-04

type:

Moving Image

format:

Mini-DV

identifier:

937.01; 2006.937

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

410420

coverage:

1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 1970-2004

rights:

Unrestricted