Katherine L . Gregory Rear Admiral Katherine L . Gregory is the first female flag officer in the United States Navy Civil Engineer Corps ( CEC ) . She assumed command of Naval Facilities Engineering Command ( NAVFAC ) Pacific on July 9 , 2010 , and has been named to take command of all NAVFAC as the highest - ranked Civil Engineer in the Navy , effective fall 2012 . Background . Katherine L . Gregory is a native of St . Louis , Missouri . She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1982 . Navy career . Gregory ' s first assignment was in Yokosuka , Japan as the assistant Resident Officer In Charge of Construction ( ROICC ) . From there she moved to Naples , Italy to serve as the engineering and planning officer . In 1986 Gregory began her first tour with the Seabees , serving as a company commander , assistant operations officer and detachment officer in charge with Amphibious Construction Battalion One , homeported in Coronado , California . She then transferred to Washington , D . C . , serving as a Seabee action officer at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command ( NAVFAC ) headquarters . In 1991 Gregory moved to San Francisco , California , first as the resident officer in charge of construction , and then as the shore facility environmental compliance officer . She left the Bay Area for the Aleutian Islands to serve as the Naval Air Station Adak public works officer . In 1995 Gregory returned to the Seabees , serving as the executive officer of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 ( NMCB - 1 ) , homeported in Gulfport , Mississippi , and deploying to the Western Pacific and the Mediterranean . After a tour in Washington D . C . as the chief of naval operations overseas bases planning & action officer , she went back to the Naval Construction Force , assuming command of NMCB - 133 , deploying throughout the Western Pacific and Mediterranean . In 1999 Gregory reported to Naples , Italy as the officer in charge of construction , responsible for construction of a new support base and hospital . Her follow on tour was to Hawaii as the executive officer of Navy Public Works Center and NAVFAC Hawaii . Gregory then served as a Department of Defense corporate fellow , working with the Southern Company in Atlanta , Georgia . In May 2006 , she assumed command of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment in Port Hueneme , California . She reported for duty as chief of staff at the First Naval Construction Division in Norfolk , Virginia , in July 2008 . Gregory was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral on June 1 , 2010 and assumed command of NAVFAC Pacific , in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii on July 9 , 2010 . NAVFAC Pacific is a command of approximately 4 , 000 military and civilian men and women who work for NAVFAC Pacific and its three Facilities Engineering Commands in Hawaii , Guam , and Japan . Education . Gregory holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the U . S . Naval Academy , the University of Southern California , and George Washington University . She has completed the Senior Executive Program at the London School of Business , is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia , and is a qualified military parachutist and Seabee combat warfare officer . Awards and decorations . Her personal decorations include the Legion of Merit , Meritorious Service Medal , Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal , Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal .