Patricia Ann Tracey

Patricia Ann Tracey was a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy and held the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Personnel Policy at time of her retirement on 01 October 2004. At that time she was also the senior ranking woman officer in the United States military.

A native of The Bronx, New York, Vice Admiral Tracey graduated from The College of New Rochelle with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics, completed Womens' Officer Candidate School, and was commissioned as an Ensign in 1970. She also earned a Master's Degree, with distinction, in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Her initial assignment in the U.S. Navy was to the Naval Space Surveillance Systems in Dahlgren, Virginia where she qualified as a Command Center Officer and Orbital Analyst. Following a tour on the staff of the Commander of the Pacific Fleet, she served at the Bureau of Naval Personnel as the Placement Officer for graduate education and service college students. From 1980]] to 1982, Vice Admiral Tracey served as an extended planning analyst in the Systems Analysis division on the Chief of Naval Operations’ staff. She served as Executive Officer of the Naval Recruiting District in Buffalo, New York, until 1984, where she was assigned as a manpower and personnel analyst in the Program Appraisal Division of the Chief of Naval Operations’ staff.

Her first command tour was at the Naval Technical Training Center at Treasure Island, California from 1986 to 1988, followed by a staff position with the Chief of Naval Personnel as the head of the Enlisted Plans and Community Management Branch. She served as Commanding Officer of Naval Station Long Beach, then the second largest homeport of the Pacific Fleet. Tracey became a Fellow with the Chief of Naval Operations' Strategic Studies Group at the Naval War College in 1992. She was assigned as Director for Manpower and Personnel on the staff of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, serving in this capacity from 1993 to 1995. She subsequently served from June 1995 to June 1996 as Commander, Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, home of the Navy's only boot camp. Tracey served as the Chief of Naval Education and Training (CNET) and Director of Naval Training for the Chief of Naval Operations from 1996 to 1998. (CNET was replaced by Naval Education and Training Command in in 2003 but remains headquartered at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida).

Tracey's personal decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, three Legion of Merit awards, and three Meritorious Service Medals.