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Gina Bennett

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Gina Bennett
Bennett speaking at DAR Constitution Hall in 2025
EducationUniversity of Virginia
Marine Corps War College
Occupation(s)intelligence analyst
writer
Children5

Gina M. Bennett is an American writer and retired intelligence analyst. She worked as a Central Intelligence Agency terrorism senior targeting analyst and as the senior advisor for the Directorate of Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counterterrorism Center. She is known for being one of the first intelligence services personnel to identify Osama bin Laden as a threat to national security, which is covered in the documentaries Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden, The Spymasters, and Makers: Women Who Make America. Bennett is an adjunct professor in security studies at Georgetown University. She authored three books, National Security Mom: Why "Going Soft" Will Make America Strong in 2008, How Kids Can Be Good Citizens: Lessons for Keeping America Strong & Safe in 2013, and America Needs a Time-Out: National Security Mom 2 in 2019.

Early life and education

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Bennett is the daughter of a United States Navy veteran who served during the Korean War.[1]

She graduated from the University of Virginia and earned a master's degree from the Marine Corps War College.[2]

Career

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Bennett worked in the intelligence and national security field for thirty four years.[2][3] As a counterterrorism specialist, Bennett was a member of the Senior Analytic Service that authored the earliest warnings about the growing threat of Osama bin Laden in the 1990s.[3][4]

Bennett began her career as a terrorism watch officer and, following a violent attack in Algeria in 1991, she compiled classified reports on a figure known as "Abu Abdullah", later identified as Osama bin Laden, who had financed the Afghan Arab terrorists responsible for the attack in Algeria.[5] In 1993, she witnessed the unfolding of the World Trade Center bombing by Ramzi Yousef.[5] In August 1993, she authored a report naming identifying Osama bin Laden as a growing threat to the United States that needed monitoring, marking the first time a United States government official had singled bin Laden out as a potential threat to national security.[5] Bennett tracked bin Laden's influence and movements, writing about his activities and, by 2001, working with the CIA as an analyst underscoring al-Qaeda's role in global terrorism.[5]

Following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Bennett worked to identify the next potential targets to prevent further terrorist attacks.[5] She and her team refused to evacuate their headquarters, which was considered as a potential target.[4] A week later, she was recruited to investigate whether Saddam Hussein was involved in the attacks.[5]

In March 2018, she was appointed as the senior advisor for the Directorate of Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counterterrorism Center.[5]

She was featured in the Showtime documentary The Spymasters the HBO documentary Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden, and the PBS documentary Makers: Women Who Make America.[2][5]

After retiring from the intelligence services in 2022, Bennett began working as the strategic advisor for Girl Security, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization focused on empowering and advancing young women into national and international security missions.[3][5] She also serves as an adjunct professor with the Walsh School of Foreign Service's Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University and an adjunct professor at George Washington University.[6] She teaches ethics in intelligence support to national security and hunter-gatherer national security.[3]

She served on the board of directors of the Alturas Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on advancing American democracy, promoting the [[United States Constitution] and gender equality.[3] Bennett authored three books, National Security Mom: Why "Going Soft" Will Make America Strong in 2008, How Kids Can Be Good Citizens: Lessons for Keeping America Strong & Safe in 2013, and America Needs a Time-Out: National Security Mom 2 in 2019.[5]

On June 28, 2025, Bennett was the keynote speaker during the National Defense Night ceremony of the Daughters of the American Revolution's 134th Continental Congress at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.[7] She was presented the DAR Patriot Award by President General Pamela Rouse Wright.[8]

Personal life

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She has five children.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "DAR 134th Continental Congress - National Defense Night". YouTube. June 28, 2025. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Gina Bennett". Alturas Institute (www.alturasinstitute.com). Idaho: The Alturas Institute. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Women In Intelligence Inspiring the Next Generation 2024". The Bush School. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Morell, Michael (September 8, 2021). "Politics "Intelligence Matters" presents: Remembering 9/11 with Gina Bennett". CBS News. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sinha, Shivangi (March 10, 2025). "Gina Bennett: Where is the Ex-CIA Analyst Now?". Moviedelic. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  6. ^ "Gina Bennett". Georgetown 360. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  7. ^ "134th Continental Congress Daughters of the American Revolution Convenes in Washington, D.C." Daughters of the American Revolution. Washington, D.C.: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. June 23, 2024. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  8. ^ Wright, Pamela (June 28, 2025). "Honoring Our Military: National Defense Night". Daughters of the American Revolution. Washington, D.C.: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
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