PRESIDENT NOMINATES FIRST WOMAN FOR 4 STARS
LTG Ann E. Dunwoody would be first promoted to full general

LTG Ann E. Dunwoody is nominated to become the first woman four-star general. US Army Photo.

Army LTG Ann E. Dunwoody is the first servicewoman nominated to become a four-star general. President Bush nominated her June 23, 2008, to be the commander of the Army Materiel Command at Ft Belvoir, VA. If confirmed by the US Senate, she would take charge of the more than 56,000 soldiers and civilians who provide equipment, outfitting and arms—everything from weapons to meals—to the Army.

LTG Dunwoody would be the first American servicewoman to attain the rank of a full general. She is currently one of only five female three-star general/flag officers in the armed forces. A Department of Defense (DoD) news release about the nomination noted that there are 56 other active duty and 47 reserve servicewomen who are one- or two-star generals. By law, the Army is limited to 11 active-duty four-star generals.

Commissioned into the Women's Army Corps in 1975, LTG Dunwoody has served 33 years in the Army, beginning with a maintenance company at Ft Sill, OK. She hails from a family that has served the Army for five generations, from her great-grandfather to her niece.

	LTG Ann E. Dudwoody is a charter member of the Women's Memorial (above).

A charter member of the Women's Memorial, LTG Dunwoody's command assignments have included Commanding General of 782nd Main Support Battalion, 82nd Airborne, Ft Bragg, NC; Division Support Command, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Ft Drum, NY; 1st Corps Support Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, Ft. Bragg, NC; Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, Alexandria, VA; and Combined Arms Support Command, Ft. Lee, VA. She served as the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics before becoming Deputy Commander of Army Materiel Command, Ft Belvoir, VA. Lt. Gen.

	Army LTG Ann Dunwoody was a special guest of the Women's Memorial during the 10th Anniversary celebration to unveil a glass tablet bearing a quote by SGT Leigh Ann Hester, Silver Star recipient. Joining LTG Dunwoody were Acting Secretary of VA Gordon Mansfield and Defense Secretary Robert Gates . Women's Memorial Foundation Photo.

LTG Dunwoody's long and distinguished list of military decorations, include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters. She is also among the small but growing number of servicewomen who have earned a Master Parachutist Badge and Parachutist Rigger Badge.

In a statement, released June 23, LTG Dunwoody said she is both "honored and humbled" to be nominated. "This nomination only reaffirms what I have known to be true about the military throughout my career," she said, "that the doors continue to open for men and women in uniform."

(July 2008)