Page 14 - BUZZ Magazine - Issue #5 Summer 2023 | University of Rochester

In
and After
the Navy

AT ROCHESTER
Herbert’s soccer coach, Terry Gurnett ’77, and her NROTC commanding officer, Colonel Larry
Ogle (USMC), provided steady inspiration throughout her college years and beyond. “They
were major influencers in my life,” she says. “I learned so much from them and from sports and
NROTC—I enjoyed all the training, competition, and studying with my teammates and colleagues,
too. We always had each other’s backs, and many of us have become lifelong friends.”
Herbert’s plan was to graduate, serve her required four years in the Navy, and then pursue a
civilian career. She didn’t expect to love the Navy, but she did. Those early days in the NROTC
formed the bedrock of what would evolve into a 30-year naval career. She retired in 2014 as
a rear admiral—one of the military’s higher ranking positions. Only about six percent of active
duty and retired Navy admirals are women.
“Gretchen was always prepared to practice and play,” Gurnett says. “She was the consummate
teammate, a joy to coach, and a natural-born leader—everyone loved and respected her. It’s no
surprise to me that she went on to have such a successful career.”

BEING A NAVY WOMAN
When Herbert graduated in 1984, the U.S. Department of Defense's combat
exclusion policy was still in effect, part of the Women’s Armed Services
Integration Act. Passed in 1948, it gave women the ability to join the armed
forces during times of peace, but they were not permitted to serve in
combat positions. This policy meant that Herbert’s assignment options
were more limited than those available to men.
As graduation neared, Herbert sat down with Col. Ogle to talk about
what kind of naval assignment she—and any woman—could pursue.
“It was a fortuitous conversation that led to my first assignment, an
operational role in an important anti-submarine warfare program that was
established during the Cold War,” says Herbert, who spent her first five years
in the Navy engaged in anti-submarine warfare, tracking Soviet submarines
throughout the Atlantic Ocean.
After repeal of the combat exclusion policy in 1993, Herbert served as a satellite
communications officer in London. A few years later, she embarked on her first shipboard tour
as the combat systems officer on the USS George Washington, a nuclear aircraft carrier that
still operates today with 5,000 service members on board. “That post ended up being the best
experience of my career—exciting work, great people, and a mission that was critical to our
country's national security,” she says.
During the early years of her career, Herbert notes that women made up just more than 10
percent of the Navy’s active duty force. Even before the combat exclusion law was rescinded,
all of her junior officer assignments were at commands that were well integrated with women.
"I never felt like a minority during those tours," she says. "The gender demographics were similar
to what I experienced in the NROTC program at Rochester."
Being a woman in the Navy continued to be a non-issue for Herbert when she was assigned
to commands where women were disproportionately outnumbered by men. “Throughout my
career, I have always been encouraged, supported, motivated, and respected," she adds. "The
Navy afforded me tremendous opportunities. I couldn’t ask for a better career.”

PURSUING EXCELLENCE
Herbert then spent four years working at the Pentagon until 2011, when she was selected
to lead the Navy’s Cyber Forces Command. Its mission was to staff, train, equip, and certify

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