Lea Gabrielle (born March 19, 1975) is a former U.S. Diplomat who served as the Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center at the U.S. Department of State from 2019-2021. She formerly served in the United States Navy for twelve years as a combat naval aviator and intelligence officer. As a civilian, she worked as a journalist and correspondent for the Fox News Channel and as a general-assignment reporter for ''

Shepard Smith Reporting ''Bill Hemmer Reports'' was an American television news/opinion/ talk program on Fox News Channel hosted by Bill Hemmer. Episodes aired at 3 p.m. ET on Monday through Friday. The show focused on the day's events with interviews, current event up ...

''. On February 7, 2019, it was announced she would head up the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

's Global Engagement Center (GEC), tasked with countering propaganda from foreign actors such as Russia, China, North Korea, and ISIS. She has served in the position of Special Envoy and Coordinator of the GEC since February 11, 2019.

Background

While attending

Mount Vernon High School Mount Vernon High School could refer to: *Mount Vernon High School (Arkansas) — Mount Vernon, Arkansas * Mount Vernon High School (Illinois) — Mount Vernon, Illinois *Mount Vernon High School (Fortville, Indiana) * Mount Vernon High Sch ...

in Fairfax County, Virginia, Gabrielle was named a finalist in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. She is a 1997 graduate of the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, earning a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

. Entering the active-duty Navy after graduation, Gabrielle attended the U.S. Navy Flight School at

Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

in Florida from 1998 to 2000, earning her Naval Aviator Wings. She is also qualified with an instrument rating and as a commercial pilot. She served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for twelve years and was a naval aviator of the single-seat

F/A-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part ...

"Hornet," with combat deployment from . Her

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

as a pilot was "Flower". Additional duties were as a

landing signal officer A landing signal officer or landing safety officer (LSO), also informally known as paddles (United States Navy) or batsman (Royal Navy), is a naval aviator specially trained to facilitate the "safe and expeditious recovery" of naval aircraft abo ...

(LSO) and as a squadron public affairs officer. She also served as an intelligence operations officer during Operation Enduring Freedom,Life Changers - Lea Sutton, NBC 7 San Diego Reporter & Former Navy Fighter Pilot
and while in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, she was embedded with a

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting s ...

unit conducting

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...

operations. She was also a defense foreign liaison officer.

Journalism career

After leaving the navy, Gabrielle attended the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a private for-profit film school and acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. The New York Film Academy was founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, a former film, ...

in 2009, receiving a digital journalism certificate. She then worked for NBC News (2010-2011) in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

where she shot, wrote, edited, and produced packages for ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

'', ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...

'',

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

websites, and web spots. As a digital journalist and editor (Avid), Gabrielle covered stories for the ''NBC Nightly News'' web page and nationwide NBC affiliates. She conducted interviews for White House and Political Correspondents and ''Nightly News'' (including the President, the first female governor in Afghanistan, and GOP Presidential nominees). In September 2011, Gabrielle moved to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, and became a military reporter for KNSD-TV (NBC 7), using the name Lea Sutton. She joined Fox News Channel in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in December 2013.

References

Meet Lea Gabrielle, Fox News Correspondent and Aviation Expert

External links

US Department of State Biography

Fox News Profile

KNSD

Linkedin Profile

From F/A-18s to Fox News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabrielle, Lea 1975 births Living people American television reporters and correspondents Fox News people American women television journalists United States Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Women in 21st-century warfare Women war correspondents Military personnel from Alexandria, Virginia Journalists from Virginia Commercial aviators United States Naval Academy alumni United States Naval Aviators Female United States Navy officers American women commercial aviators Aviators from Virginia Women United States Naval Aviators 21st-century American women