Elizabeth Paschel Hoisington (November 3, 1918 – August 21, 2007) was an United States Army officer who was one of the first women to attain the rank of Brigadier General.
On June 11, 1970, three years after Congress authorized the promotion of women to the rank of General, Army officers Anna Mae Hays and Hoisington became the first two women to be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Army. Hoisington also became the first Women's Army Corps (WAC) officer promoted to that rank. (Hays was with the Army Nurse Corps).
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Hoisington's Army service goes back to early World War II. Women, with the exception of nurses, were not officially in the Army during WWII. Instead, they were members of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC).
Elizabeth Hoisington enlisted in November 1942 and completed her basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. At the time, women were required to serve in units before they could apply to Officer Candidate School (OCS), so Private Hoisington went to a WAAC aircraft early warning unit in Bangor, Maine.
The company commander recognized her talents and made her the First Sergeant soon after her arrival.
"From private to first sergeant, that was my greatest promotion in the Army." ~General Hoisington
She then sought out the most grizzled male first sergeant she could find and asked him to teach her what she needed to know. She claims that he did such a good job that when she reached OCS she never had to open a book.
After Bangor, Hoisington made it to OCS. Her commission in May 1943 was to the rank of WAAC third officer. When the auxiliary became the Women's Army Corps (WAC) a month later, its officers changed to standard Army ranks.
Colonel Elizabeth P. Hoisington was appointed the seventh Director of the Women's Army Corps on August 1, 1965 and served from 1966 to 1971. As the Director of the Women’s Army Corps, Col. Hoisington visited the WACs serving during the Vietnam war in Saigon and Long Binh in September 1967. According to some sources, Hoisington discouraged sending Army women to Vietnam. She believed that the public controversy over the issue of women in combat zones would deter progress in expanding the role of women in the Army.
On May 15, 1970, President Nixon announced the first women selected for promotion to Brigadier General: Col. Anna Mae Hays, Chief, Army Nurse Corps, and Elizabeth P. Hoisington, effective June 11, 1970. Hoisington retired on August 1, 1971.
According to the Army Nurse Corps Association, "on 11 June 1970, Colonel Anna Maye Hays was promoted to the grade of general and became the first woman in the United States Armed Forces to wear the insignia of a brigadier general."
Born in Newton, Kansas; General Elizabeth Hoisington was an alumna of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. Her father, Gregory Hoisington, was a graduate of West Point and a Colonel in the U.S. Army. He was a direct descendant of Ebenezer Hoisington, a founder of the state of Vermont, who served during the American Revolution.
Her brother, Perry Hoisington II, was also a General. Elizabeth Hoisington’s 1970 promotion made them the first brother and sister Generals in the United States Army; her nephew served as enlisted in the Marine Corps. Her grandfather, Perry Milo Hoisington I, helped to organize the Kansas National Guard.
Upon her death, at age 88, she was survived by a younger brother, Robert, and a sister, Nancy. She never married.
An obituary in the Washington Post dated November 4, 2007, lists four siblings: Major General Perry M. Hoisington, USAF (Ret.), Lt Col Robert H. Hoisington, USA (Ret.), Mary Jo Maertens and Nancy H. Smith; 18 nieces and nephews, numerous great- and great-great nieces and nephews.
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