Born: 31 January 1952, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the Library of Congress’s Forever a Soldier: Unforgettable Stories of Wartime Service oral history project. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
War or Conflict: Persian Gulf War, 1991
Branch of Service: Navy
Service Unit/Ship: USS Hector (AR 7); USS Opportune (ARS 41)
Location of Service: Alameda, California; San Diego, California; Norfolk, Virginia; Washington, DC; Port Said, Egypt; Guam (Mariana Islands)
Highest Rank: Commander
“Don’t treat me any differently; I am the commanding officer and that’s it.” (Video Interview, 34:55)
When Darlene Iskra enlisted in the Navy in 1979, her ambitions were modest; she was 27, coming off a divorce, her life in need of a jump start. She unwittingly caught a wave of change in that service, becoming one of the first women to graduate from dive school. Her talent for supervision and her tenacity won her a loyal following in the higher echelons of the Navy, and in December 1990, she became the first woman to take command of a U.S. Navy ship, aptly named the Opportune. Though her ship was on stand-by duty during the Persian Gulf War, Iskra’s name was already secure in Naval history.