<p>Thought our ambitious female cadets/candidates would find this of interest.</p>
<p>The first female graduate of West Point to become a general officer has been named to a high ranking position in the military.</p>
<p>Brig. Gen. Becky Halstead, 3rd Corps Support commander of Wiesbaden, Germany, has been named commander/commandant of the Army Ordnance Center and Schools at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. She is expected to assume her new assignment in the fall, according to the military magazine Stars and Stripes.</p>
<p>Halstead, who is deployed to Iraq with her unit, will succeed Maj. Gen. Vincent Boles in the position, just as she succeeded him as commander of the 3rd COSCOM. The position is also called chief of ordnance.</p>
<p>She is one of 14 female Army generals and was the first female graduate of the Military Academy at West Point to become a general officer. She entered the academy in 1976, the second year it was open to women.</p>
<p>From upstate Willsey, New York, Halstead has served in staff and command positions in Washington state; Washington, D.C.; Kentucky; Hawaii; New York; Florida; Italy and Germany. Before heading up 3rd COSCOM, she was 21st Theater Support commander in Kaiserslautern.</p>
<p>According to an Ordnance Center Web site, the Ordnance Corps mission is to support development, production, acquisition and sustainment of weapons systems and munitions.</p>