President Nominates Woman Army General for Fourth Star
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 23, 2008 – President Bush today nominated Army Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody for promotion, which, pending Senate approval, would make her the first woman to be a four-star officer in U.S. history.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced the president’s nomination of Dunwoody as the commander of Army Materiel Command at Fort Belvoir, Va., in a news release published today by the Defense Department.
Dunwoody, who has served in several command positions since her Army commission in 1975, including her current role as the Army’s deputy chief of staff for logistics, is one of five women now fulfilling three-star flag officer duties.
In 1970, Col. Anna Mae Hays blazed the trail when she became chief of the Army Nurse Corps, achieving the highest rank -- brigadier general -- of any woman servicemember at the time. But as Dunwoody’s pending promotion underscores, the role of women in the U.S. military has expanded significantly since then.
