Rear Admiral Katherine Louise Gregory (born January 27, 1951) 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 took command of all NAVFAC as the highest-ranked civil engineer in the navy in 2012. In November 2015, RADM Gregory was succeeded by RADM Bret J. Muilenburg. Background and education Katherine L. Gregory is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. She attended Parkway North High School before graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1982. 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. 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