The Advocate.Skelly, who is transgender, served 20 years as a naval flight officer, retiring with the rank of commander, and then in 2013 joined President Barack Obama’s administration as the first trans veteran appointed by a U.S.
president. Her positions included special assistant to the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and Logistics at the Department of Defense and ultimately as the director of the Office of the Executive Secretariat at the U.S.
Department of Transportation.She most recently worked for CACI International, a company that provides technology and expertise for national security purposes, and she is cofounder and vice president of Out in National Security, an advocacy group for LGBTQ+ people in the.