TAMPA, FL, April 07, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Leslie A. O'Hara has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Leveraging more than three decades of excellence as a military officer in the intelligence community, as Lieutenant Commander, Leslie O'Hara earned distinction as a leader in the Joint Intelligence Directorate, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Division at United States Central Command in her role as Lead Strategic Planner for Central Asian States and Arabian Peninsula countries. From 2012 until her retirement in 2015, she focused her efforts on working with other intelligence analysts to deliver information to the warfare fighters providing them with the operational intelligence necessary for them to make effective decisions. Lieutenant Commander Leslie O'Hara was awarded the distinguished Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) in February of 2015, the third most prestigious award presented by the Department of Defense. Ms. O'Hara's military career spanned three decades of assignments and deployments to include work on four continents, and with multiple naval Carrier Strike Groups. Aside from her assignments on the East and West Coasts of North America, Ms. O'Hara lived and worked in Italy and Bahrain and traveled for work to Japan, Australia, Oman, and the U.K. Ms. O'Hara's work with afloat naval forces included underway periods with the USS Constellation, USS Nimitz, USS Vinson, USS Lincoln, USS Stennis Carrier Strike Groups and the USS Wasp, USS Boxer, USS Tarawa and USS Essex Expeditionary Strike Groups. Ms. O'Hara's naval career includes work in the Second Fleet, Third Fleet, Fifth Fleet, Sixth Fleet and Seventh Fleet operational areas.
Additionally, owing to her military experience, she is a valued member of The American Legion, the Military Officers Association of America and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Prior to her most recent role, Ms. O'Hara began her military career serving honorably as a seaman recruit in 1985. From 1985 until 1989 she was assigned as a Cryptologic Technician at the Joint Liaison Detachment, Special Intelligence Communications Center, providing Flag Officer communications for U.S. Admirals and Generals assigned to Allied Forces South Italy, NATO Command in Naples, Italy. Continuing her career as a Cryptologic Technician, Ms. O'Hara was assigned as computer programmer for the Multi-User Special Intelligence Communications System for six years, serving from 1989 to 1992 in Sonoma, California, where she earned her Master of Science Degree from Chapman University, and from 1992 to 1995 in Pensacola, Florida. From October 1995 until September 1998, Ms. O'Hara served as Communications Watch Officer in Naples, Italy during which time she was selected as Chief Petty Officer, Cryptologic Technician Communication. From October 1998 until July 2000, Ms. O'Hara taught Naval Leadership at the Navy Leadership Training Unit, Little Creek, Virginia. Ms. O'Hara's work included teaching leadership as well as developing curriculum. On July 1, 2000, Ms. O'Hara was commissioned as Ensign, Cryptologic Officer, United States Navy.
As Ensign, Ms. O'Hara was assigned to Naval Security Group Activity Pensacola as Administration Department Head from October 2000 until October 2001 and Team Lead for computer Network Defense Division from October 2001 until March 2003 when she received orders to Department Head School. As Lieutenant Junior Grade, Ms. O'Hara accepted orders to USS TARAWA (LHA-1) as the Cryptologic Officer Assigned and Division Officer, Ships Signals Exploitation Space (October 2003 until January 2005).
After promotion to full Lieutenant, Ms. O'Hara accepted orders to Tactical Training Group Pacific where she served from 2006 until January 2009. During her time at Tactical Training Group Pacific, San Diego, California, Lieutenant O'Hara served as Information Warfare Officer Syndicate Head in charge of training and mentoring Strike Groups during pre-deployment training exercises and evaluations. In January of 2009, Lieutenant O'Hara was assigned as Operational Security Officer at US. Navy Fifth Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain. This same year she was selected for promotion to Lieutenant Commander. In February 2010, Lieutenant Commander O'Hara was transferred to the Center for Information Dominance at Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida. Here she was appointed as Branch Head over two major training divisions, Advanced Cryptologic Systems Training Division for the training of enlisted technicians and the Officer Training Division. In September 2011, Lieutenant Commander O'Hara requested and received appointment as Battalion Commander, Center for Information Dominance Detachment, Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida. She served as Battalion Commander until her transfer to United States Central Command, September 2012.
From September 2012 until her retirement in March 2015, Lieutenant Commander Leslie O'Hara served honorably U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida where she was awarded the distinguished Meritorious Service Medal (MSM), the third most prestigious awarded presented by the Department of Defense. Among her other professional accomplishments during her stellar military service, Ms. O'Hara was awarded seven Navy and Marine Corps Commendations Medals (NCMs), one Joint Service Achievement Medal, and two Navy Achievement Medals for her leadership, dedicated service, and exceptional contributions in the fields of Information Warfare, Intelligence, and Cryptology. Additional awards received during her career include: the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the NATO Medal, two National Defense Service Medals, two Joint Meritorious Unit Citations, two Humanitarian Service Medals, one Sea Service Deployment Medal, Four Navy Good Conduct Medals, and eight Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbons.
Ms. O'Hara holds a Bachelor of Science in Education, major in Political Science from Bowling Green State University, Ohio and a Master of Business Administration in Human Resource Management and Development from Chapman University, Orange, California.
Within the coming years, Ms. O'Hara intends to continue enjoying her retirement while possibly pursing a consultancy business. Constantly committed to self-improvement, Ms. O'Hara spent her career preparing herself for a broader scopes of leadership by pursing challenging assignments and continuing education. National Defense, mission accomplishment and the welfare of her sailors and officers were paramount.
Favorite quote: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
― Ronald Reagan
Second favorite quote: "I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.'"
― John F. Kennedy
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