MG Michelle Schmidt becomes first woman to command a US Army division

[jmowreader]

On September 15, 2023, Army Major General Michelle Schmidt became Division Commander of the 7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA.

This is historic for two reasons.

First is the obvious: never before has a woman commanded an Army division.

The other is that the vast majority of division commanders are Combat Arms - usually Infantry or Armor - branched officers. General Schmidt started out life as a Military Intelligence officer. This general's credentials are impressive: a West Point ring-knocker, she served as platoon leader in the 2nd Infantry Division's 102d MI Battalion in Korea, company commander in the 82nd Airborne Division's 313d MI Battalion, intelligence officer in an infantry battalion, senior intelligence officer for Delta Force, chief of intelligence for the 82nd Airborne, and Deputy Commanding General for the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry).

Glass ceiling, meet Patriot Missile.

[RipVanWinkle]

1. Impressive resume.

Interesting that she jumped from MI to Infantry when she became a general.

[Abnredleg]

2. She didn't

Colonel and below, you belong to a branch of service such as Infantry, Field Artillery, etc. Upon getting their first star an officer becomes a “general” officer, which means they no longer belong to a specific branch.

[Abnredleg]

3. To be accurate, she's the first to command an active duty division

Gen. Laura Yeager took command of the 40th Infantry Division, a National Guard Division, in 2019.