Washington - The United States government has appointed its first female chief of a major intelligence bureau, with Letitia Long taking over Monday as director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
The NGA is responsible for collecting and analysing information from satellite imagery and works with the Pentagon and other departments on defence issues, homeland security, and navigation safety. Its motto is "Know the Earth, shows the way".
Part of its mission is to support combat operations by providing timely Geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT, to soldiers and officers on the battlefield or in theatre.
Long has spent more than three decades in military and intelligence fields, beginning her career in the US Navy in 1978.
Prior to her appointment, Long served from 2006 until July 2010 as deputy director of the larger Defence Intelligence Agency, which specialises in military intelligence-gathering abroad, and before that as deputy undersecretary of defence for intelligence.
An engineer by training, she was also number two in US Naval Intelligence and worked for the CIA director.
According to statistics from the office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the country's largest spy agencies, women represent 38 percent of staff employed by the intelligence community. - Sapa-AFP