Indian-American Navy veteran appointed Kamala Harris's defence advisor

In her new role, Ms. Sethi coordinates National Security Advisor documentation across the Office of the Vice President.

Shanti Sethi, a trailblazing Indian-American Navy veteran, has joined US Vice President Kamala Harris's office as her executive secretary and defence advisor, according to a media report.

Ms. Sethi, the first Indian-American commander of a major US Navy combat ship, recently joined Vice President Harris’ office, Politico news website quoted vice president's senior advisor Herbie Ziskend as saying.

In her new role, Ms. Sethi coordinates National Security Advisor documentation across the Office of the Vice President, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Ms. Sethi commanded the guided-missile destroyer, USS Decatur, from December 2010 to May 2012. She was also the first female commander of a US naval vessel to visit India.

When she joined the Navy in 1993, the combat exclusion law was still in effect so she was limited in what she could do. However, when she was an officer, the Exclusion Act was lifted.

“I was able to move on to have a career path that was much more open to me because I was going into this very male-dominated environment,” Ms. Sethi told USA Today in an interview last year.

Ms. Sethi was born in Reno, Nevada. Her mom was born in Canada and became a naturalised US citizen at the age of 12, while her father immigrated to the US from India in the early 1960s, the USA Today report said.