Women Agents in High Command

President-elect Joe Biden has announced two women to the highest positions in U.S. intelligence, Avril Haines will be the director of national intelligence while Gina Haspe will head up the CIA. These promotions are a groundbreaking step for women in an industry in which they have been employed for over a hundred years.

Until recently, women have been in the shadows of the intelligence industry as clerical workers, officers and as agents behind enemy lines. Their stories have rarely been included in the historical record or celebrated yet thousands and thousands of women were instrumental in the foundation of intelligence gathering networks that are the fabric of the 21^st C spy agencies. These recent appointments are validating and encouraging.

To read more about women succeeding in the espionage industry, including two (unnamed) women in the Mossad’s highest intelligence command, see this article.