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Elisa Raney [detail from video]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Unit of Service: USS Seattle (AOE 3); Defense Contract Management Office; HC-8 (Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Eight); USS Nimitz (CVN 68)
  • Location of Service: Red Sea; Baghdad, Iraq; Whiting Field, Florida; Persian Gulf; San Diego, California; Japan
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/81703

View full service history

"To me, that was about the same thing as being offered the opportunity to be an Olympic athlete. It just wasn't something you turn down." (Video interview, 2:59)

Though she had planned to go into the Peace Corps after college, in 1986, Captain Elisa Raney jumped at the chance to become a pilot after a campus recruiter explained that the Navy admitted female flyers. Aviation Officer Candidate School pushed her to her limits, but she endured, telling herself that, barring injury, her instructors couldn't make her quit. This attitude of perseverance would serve her well not only in training, but throughout her career as a helicopter pilot during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, as well as serving on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier and as the Deputy Commander of the Defense Contract Management Agency Iraq. She also challenged the expectations of and limitations placed on her as a female Navy pilot; she spent one eight-month deployment as the only woman on detachment with the ship.

Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Elisa Anne Raney Collection

Names

  • Raney, Elisa Anne
  • Central Connecticut State University
  • McGuckin, Briana

Home State

  • Connecticut

Headings

  • -  Raney, Elisa Anne
  • -  Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Iraq War, 2003-2011

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Unit of Service: USS Seattle (AOE 3); Defense Contract Management Office; HC-8 (Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Eight); USS Nimitz (CVN 68)
    • Location of Service: Red Sea; Baghdad, Iraq; Whiting Field, Florida; Persian Gulf; San Diego, California; Japan
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2011-08-23)
  • Computer File: CD [ item] -- Multiple types of electronic files (collected 2011-12-11)
  • Photograph: Digital print [2 items] -- Portrait (collected 2011-08-23)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 2014-05-21)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2011-08-23; 2014-04-02)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/81703

Cite as

  • Elisa Anne Raney Collection (AFC/2001/001/81703), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Raney, Elisa Anne, Central Connecticut State University, and Briana McGuckin. Elisa Anne Raney Collection. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.81703/.

APA citation style:

Raney, E. A., Central Connecticut State University & McGuckin, B. Elisa Anne Raney Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.81703/.

MLA citation style:

Raney, Elisa Anne, Central Connecticut State University, and Briana McGuckin. Elisa Anne Raney Collection. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.81703/>.