 She completed Women's Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy in 1970 in what was then known as the General Unrestricted Line officer designator (110X).She later earned a master's degree, with distinction, in operations research from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.Tracey's initial assignment in the United States Navy was to the Naval Space Surveillance Systems in Dahlgren, Virginia, where she qualified as a command center officer and orbital analyst.