Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates announced yesterday that Letitia Long is going to serve as the next director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. She is currently the deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, but will take on her new role later this year.

Long will be replacing Navy Vice Admiral Robert Murrett when she joins the NGA leadership. Long will also be the first woman to be a leader at a major intelligence agency.

When Gates made the announcement about Long, he spoke about many of her qualifications for the position. She has more than 30 years of experience in the engineering and intelligence field.

Furthermore, some of her previous positions include deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, deputy director of naval intelligence, and coordinator of intelligence community activities for the director of national intelligence.