Ann Dunwoody
Ann Dunwoody was the first female battalion commander for the 82nd Airborne Division in 1992 and the first female general at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in 2000.
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General Ann Dunwoody's visit to Iraq on September 25, 2010 (U.S. Army Materiel Command)
The Army runs in the family, and Ann Dunwoody can trace her family’s history in the military for five generations. Dunwoody’s father was a career army officer and a decorated veteran. and her childhood was spent traveling with her family from post to post.
Though she had planned on a career in physical education, she joined the army during her senior year in college.
Dunwoody continued to serve after her first commission ended. She became the first female battalion commander for the 82nd Airborne Division in 1992 and the first female general at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in 2000.
She was decorated a number of times for her service, receiving awards including the Distinguished Service Medal and the Defense Superior Service Medal. She also pushed for a decrease of sexual harassment in the military.
Dunwoody was in charge of Army Logistics and studied at the Florida Institute of Technology and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
In 2012, Dunwoody retired from the army and in 2015 she published A Higher Standard: Leadership Strategies from America’s First Female Four-Star General.
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