That is because Jackson, who assumed her duties as CO last August, doesn’t get caught up in superficial issues; her leadership philosophy is strictly pragmatic. “I don’t think about gender in the workplace,” she says. “I personally try to focus on the job at hand. If I do that, things tend to fall into place.” Jackson, 45, says she tries to look at each person as a “unique individual that comes to the workplace with incredible talents.” She acknowledges that, as a woman, she “probably communicates a little differently” than a male CO would. “But I also think that I have made some adjustments from having been around a lot of men. You learn you can’t dwell on things. You have to tackle [problems] and move forward.”
So how does this CO spend her days? “The mission of Naval Station Norfolk is to support the fleet,” says Jackson, who oversees 380 tenant commands—Navy-speak for the various units on base whose personnel are assigned to ships, aviation squadrons and shore commands. As one might expect, her days are filled with administrative and operational tasks, along with sundry ceremonial duties. She also represents Naval Station Norfolk in the community, giving speeches and participating on transportation and maritime planning boards. She credits her “incredible” team for helping her to manage everything. Jackson says that she also gets out and around the base frequently, if only to observe. “This is a very large base with a lot of people and operations. You don’t want to miss anything.” She adds: “The most predictable thing [about my job] is that everything is unpredictable.” Somehow you get the feeling she likes it that way.
Jackson brings a broad perspective to her job. She was born in Spain, spent the first year of her life in Liberia and then lived for 15 years in Saudi Arabia. Her father, a geologist, worked for the U. S. Geological Survey; her mother was a cartographer and homemaker. Jackson describes them as “pioneers and adventurers,” adding: “We took a lot of fascinating trips that contributed to who I am today.” She graduated from high school in Texas, then earned a BS in science with an emphasis in oceanography from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1988. (She also holds a master’s degree in engineering management.) Her first sea tour was in USS WILLAMETTE, homeported in Pearl Harbor, and several other tours followed. Jackson served as CO of USS MCFAUL (a guided-missile destroyer) from June 2006 to November 2008. Before that assignment she had several positions of increasing responsibility ashore. She was named Executive Officer at Naval Station Norfolk in April 2009, and got her promotion a little more than a year later.
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