The US has had three female secretaries of state — but until now has never had a woman lead one of its 16 major intelligence agencies.
Letitia Long was to be elevated yesterday to director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in a ceremony at the agency’s half-built, high-tech campus in Springfield, Virgina.
The rounded wedge of buildings is rising from a vast construction site near Fort Belvoir. The agency’s staff, now spread across the Washington metropolitan area, is scheduled to relocate there by fall next year.
Long’s 32-year career has led to a series of senior management positions: deputy director of naval intelligence, deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and, most recently, second in command at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Long represents the vanguard of women in the intelligence community.
Women represent 38 percent of the total US intelligence work force, said Wendy Morigi, spokeswoman for the director of national intelligence. In six most prominent agencies, 27 percent of senior intelligence positions are held by women.
Long has taken over one of the “top computer geek shops” in the national security world.
The agency synthesizes satellite imagery, using everything from the number of electric lines a city has to the density of the soil, to create three-dimensional, interactive maps of every spot on the planet. They are used by everyone from invading troops gauging whether a country’s roads or deserts can handle tank tracks, to oil spill cleanup crews trying to decide where to deploy resources.
Long has the science and technology credentials to do it, with a degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, and a master’s in mechanical engineering from the Catholic University of America.
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