After 33 years in the military, Brig. Gen. Laura Yeager will be the first woman to command an Army infantry division, observed Grumpy Editor. She takes command of California National Guard’s 40th Infantry Division at the end of next week.
“I’m hoping the novelty of the situation will fall away and we can focus on doing the work,” she told Rose L. Thayer, Stars and Stripes writer, mentioning she was also the first woman to hold her previous assignment as commander of Joint Task Force North, U.S. Northern Command at Fort Bliss, Texas.
The daughter of a Vietnam War veteran, Yeager began her active-duty military service in May, 1986, receiving her commission from the California State University, Long Beach, ROTC program. She completed military helicopter training in 1989, and served as UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter aeromedical evacuation pilot.
Yeager deployed to Iraq in 2011 as the deputy commander of the California Guard’s 40th Combat Aviation Brigade, in which she later became the commander.
Members of the 112-year-old 40th Infantry Division fought in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. More recently, division soldiers deployed to Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and other locations around the globe.
Grumpy Editor once served in the 40th Infantry Division as a public information specialist.
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