Emelia Probasco

Next Generation National Security Fellow, 2009-2010

Special Assistant, Admiral Gary Roughead, CNO

  • Press: comms@cnas.org

Lieutenant Emelia Spencer Probasco has served as the Special Assistant and sole speechwriter to Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations, since October 2007. Prior to her tour at the Pentagon, Emelia served for three years aboard the AEGIS guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones. Through two deployments to the Western Pacific she was the Communications Officer, Public Affairs Officer, Assistant Operations Officer, and finally Fire Control Officer, the officer responsible for the operation and maintenance of the AEGIS Weapons System and the ship’s expert on Ballistic Missile Defense.

Emelia is a 2002 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. After graduation, she attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, where she completed a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Forced Migration and a second MSc in Economic and Social History. She lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with her husband Dr. John Probasco.