MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Twenty years ago, a mild mannered woman sat behind a desk with an electric typewriter.

There were no computers or Internet at the Morale Welfare and Recreation offices on then Naval Air Station Miramar and it could be difficult to imagine how Linda Gerardi, Marine Corps Community Services administrative assistant, spent her day. She may have enjoyed the secrecy of her unassuming identity, but then the Marine Corps came along, took over Miramar and kicked the Internet into gear and a new level of eminence became of the Greardi e-mailer.

Gerardi is somewhat an anomaly. So how does this super messenger deal with being anonymously well known? Does she take on a secret identity to avoid letting the world know the truth about her?

She admits that the thought had not crossed her mind, but she might give it some consideration in the future. Rather, this intrepid Internet icon muses in the interesting experiences it has created for her.

"My daughter managed some apartments and a Marine was filling out  an application when he noticed my daughters name was Gerardi. He said are you related to Linda Gerardi? She was surprised he knew who I was," Gerardi said. "Sometimes people will meet me or call me and say, 'I delete all your e-mails even before I read them', but I take it in stride."

Gerardi's typical day, in addition to forwarding e-mails, includes ensuring station orders are in the right format, and serving as time keeper for several employees.

As if those duties were not enough, her phone never seems to cease ringing. Every time, she is able to pleasantly answer questions from points of contacts for the Young Marine Program to phone numbers from various buildings from memory.

With all this on her plate it may be difficult to imagine how she finds time to wade through the information to decide what should go out on base wide e-mails, but for this super-civilian employee the answer is simple.

"I only send out information concerning MCCS facilities and events. Sometimes units call up and want something such as carwashes put out on the base wide distribution, but I don't have the authorization to do that."

With a twenty-year tenure, Gerardi has seen a lot of changes on base she explained, "I was here when MCCS offices were in the main gym and the Great Escape was in the current MCCS offices and the current Public Affairs Office was a beauty shop. The Air Show has grown so much over the years. When I first got here the show didn't even have bleachers." Gerardi spoke of the changes that affected her when this base transitioned from the Navy to the Marine Corps, "I was here when the base changed from Navy to Marine and then I stopped reviewing Navy Instructions and moved onto Marine Corps Orders."

Sometimes electronic messages can cause ire in the recipient, but that does not mean anger should be directed toward the sender. Especially, since the true character of this particular nimble network navigator is known only by electronic contact. But maybe she prefers it that way.

Maybe it is better to just see "Gerardi" in the inbox and wonder, "who is that mass e-mailer?"