 In 1978 Gilden moved to Washington D.C. where she ran the political action committee for the Coalition for a New Foreign and Military Policy during the mid-term elections.Immediately after the election, she was hired by Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) to serve as her legislative staff to the House Armed Services Committee.In 1980, Gilden was hired by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to serve as a special advisor in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Manpower, Reserve Affairs, and Logistics working on issues relating to the integration of women into the military academies and aboard combatant naval vessels and aircraft.