Captain Quigley was commissioned ensign in the USNR in 1954 (transferring to the USN in 1955) and was assigned as secretary of the Strategic Plans Division, CNO. She then served as Assistant Guest Lecture Officer at the Naval War College; WAVE Officer and Enlisted Program Officer at the Navy Recruiting Station, San Francisco; Secretary to the CNO (Admiral George Anderson) in 1961; Senior Aide to the Deputy CinC, U.S. European Command. She became Special Assistant to the XO at Naval Submarine School at Groton, Connecticut in 1969, and in 1970 was named the eighth director of the WAVES. She tells of her problems in trying to achieve equality for women in the Navy and her conflict with Admiral Zumwalt in the attempt.