RADM Rosanne M. LeVitre, USN (Ret)

Rear Admiral Rosanne “Rose” LeVitre was the first woman intelligence specialist selected for flag rank in the United States Navy. She was commissioned an Ensign in May 1973 on completion of Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS), Newport, R.I. After 31 years of active service, she retired from active duty in February 2005.

Now in the civilian sector, Rose LeVitre works for General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, and is the Director for Strategic Planning. She serves on numerous boards and committees, to include the Intelligence and Security Alliance (INSA), the National Military Intelligence Association, the ASIS Military Liaison Committee and the corporate board of a small commercial security software company.

The majority of Rose LeVitre’s military assignments were at operational activities in the Asia-Pacific region. She has considerable experience in the interagency intelligence arena. Among her early tours of duty (1976-77) was an assignment to the Imperial Iranian Training Program during the introduction of women into that country’s Navy.

Rear Admiral (ret) LeVitre entered the intelligence specialty field in 1978. She served in numerous fleet operational assignments. From 1982 until 1991, she directly supported multi-platform Navy operations in the Pacific, with specific experience in air, surface and subsurface surveillance and reconnaissance.

Rose LeVitre’s initial exposure to interagency intelligence occurred in 1989, when she was assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard in Alameda, California. Her task was to establish the intelligence department for the newly established Commander, Joint Interagency Task Force-West, a command charged with providing DOD military support to interagency counter-narcotics interdiction.

During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm (1990-1991), Rear Admiral (ret) LeVitre was detailed to the U.S. Central Command Air Forces Joint Force Air Component Command (JFACC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After the war, she was sent to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Current Operations Directorate (J3). Among her duties was that of JCS representative to a National Security Council. She later served at two joint intelligence centers (JICs), one of which she commanded. After her command tour, she became the Director for Intelligence (J2), U.S. Joint Forces Command, Norfolk, VA.

On selection to flag rank, Rear Admiral (ret) LeVitre assumed the position as Director for Intelligence (J2), U.S. Pacific Command, Honolulu, Hawaii. From 2000 to late 2003, she oversaw intelligence operations at a time of increased tensions, from the EP-3 aircraft incident with China, to the Global War on Terrorism, and crises involving India-Pakistan and Korea. She conceived of and oversaw implementation of an expanded information sharing architecture, involving traditional allied partners, non-traditional alliances and non-DOD entities to include the FBI, state and local authorities.

In 2004, Rear Admiral (ret) LeVitre became the first Director, Navy Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), FORCEnet, Navy Staff, Washington D.C. In this capacity she was the lead resource sponsor and capabilities integrator for ISR, working across the Navy staff and the service systems acquisition commands.

Rose LeVitre holds a BA in history and education from the University of Washington. She has two Masters of Arts degrees in national security affairs, one from Georgetown University and the other from the Naval War College. She was a 2004 national security fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Rear Admiral (ret) LeVitre resides with her husband, Lars Hanson, a retired Navy submarine officer, in Vienna, Virginia. They have two grown children.