Mrs. Elsie W. Fisher began her service with the Army at the lowest civilian grade shortly before the beginning of World War II. Early in her career she moved to the office of the Chief of the Chemical Warfare Service where she served as a key administrative staff member through many successive reorganizations until her retirement in 1987 as a GS-9. By the mid-1960s she had become the top administrative member on the staff of the senior Chemical Officer at Headquarters, Department of the Army.

Mrs. Fisher was a superb trainer of the Chemical Officers who served in the Pentagon, many of whom later reached general officer rank, often attributing their success to her influence.

She became the “institutional memory” of the Chemical Corps, preserving key records through reorganizations and attempts to abolish the Corps. These were invaluable to the revitalization of the Corps in the late 1970s and 1980s.