From June 1941 to September 1944, Alexandra Ivanovna Portnaya was part of the active army and served in the engineering department of the Black Sea Fleet.
By November 1, 1941, three lines of defense were erected around Sevastopol: rear, main, and forward lines. She had to work at the forward line of defense under the guns of German snipers. At the end of October 1941, the engineering department was evacuated to the Caucasus. Her combat path took her through Batumi, Sukhumi, Grozny, Tuapse, Novorossiysk.
Alexandra Ivanovna worked on the construction of defensive structures: trenches, pillboxes, bunkers, restored the runways of airfields after bombing.
Awards: medal "For the Defense of Sevastopol", medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus", medal "For the Victory over Germany"