The U.S. Air Force promotes the first female pilot to brigadier general.[1]
U.S. Navy women are among the victims and heroes when the USS Cole is attacked by a suicide bomber in Yemen.[2]
The first woman commands a U.S. Navy warship at sea. The vessel is assigned to the Persian Gulf.[3]
The Army National Guard promotes the first woman to major general.[4]
First woman in the U.S. Coast Guard promoted to RADM: Mary P O'Donnell, 2000.[5]
Robbins earns “Player of the Year” and Sarah Hatton wins “Pitcher of the Year” and they lead the West Point women's softball team to its third team title and first NCAA tournament bid.[6]
First woman in the U.S. Coast Guard promoted to Reserve RADM: Mary P. O'Donnell, USCGR.[7]
First African-American woman in the U.S. Coast Guard promoted to Master Chief Petty Officer: Angela McShan.[8]
First woman in the U.S. Coast Guard promoted to CWO (AVI), Deborah Walsh, 1 June 2000.[9]
Lucille "Pam" Thompson became the first African-American woman to serve as a U.S. Coast Guard Special Agent: July, 2000 to July, 2004.[10]
An Air National Guard security force woman becomes the first woman to complete the U.S. counter-sniper course, the only U.S. military sniper program open to women.[16]
The US Army Women's Museum opens at Ft. Lee, Virginia.[17]
Susan Woo becomes the first female West Point cadet to win an East/West Center Scholarship.[19]
Kimberly Pienkowski becomes the first female West Point cadet to win a first team all-America in air rifle.[20]
COL Ann Horner becomes the first female Garrison Commander at West Point.[21]
Capt. Maryse Carmichael became the first female Snowbird pilot in Canada.[22]
CDR Sharon Donald-Baynes became the first African-American woman to command an operations ashore unit in the U.S. Coast Guard when she took command of Group Lower Mississippi River based in Memphis, Tennessee.[23]
ENS Andrea Parker became the first African-American woman to graduate with an engineering degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.[24]
Spring: Coral Wong Pietch becomes the first woman Army Judge Advocates General (JAG), and the first Asian-American woman to reach the rank of General in the United States Army.[25]
September 11: During the 9/11 terror attacks, U.S combat pilots Col. Marc Sasseville and Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney are ordered to bring down the hijacked airliner United Airlines Flight 93 by ramming their F-16s into it. The plane crashes in Pennsylvania before they can do so, however.[26] Furthermore, in the attack at the Pentagon ten active duty, reserve, and retired servicewomen were among the casualties. Servicewomen were activated and deployed in support of the war on terrorism.[27]
November: Chechen woman Aiza Gazuyeva assassinates a Russian general by suicide bombing. She is the first Chechen shahidka, or "black widow", a term for female suicide bombers. More women begin to copy her example.[28][29][30]
An enlisted female U.S. Marine (Sergeant Jeannette L. Winters) is killed in an aircraft crash in Pakistan, the first woman to die in the Global War on Terror (specifically Operation Enduring Freedom).[32][33]
The U.S. Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) is issued a new charter narrowing its focus to issues pertaining to military families, recruitment, readiness and retention. A retired Marine three-star general is appointed chairman of the new, downsized advisory committee.[34]
For the first time in its history, the U.S. Army National Guard promotes an African-American woman to the rank of brigadier general.
For the first time in US history, a woman becomes the top enlisted advisor in one of the military components. She is sworn in as the Command Sergeant Major of the US Army Reserve.[35]
Chief Warrant Officer Camille Tkacz is the first woman appointed to a Command Chief position as assistant deputy minister (Human Resources - Military) Chief Warrant Officer in Canada.[36]
In June, 2002, CAPT Jane M. Hartley, USCGR, was designated as the Commanding Officer of Marine Safety Office Wilmington, North Carolina and as such became the first woman in the U.S. Coast Guard to become Captain of the Port.[37]
Jeannie Huh becomes the first female West Point cadet to win a Mitchell Scholarship.[38]
Lauren Rowe becomes the first West Point cadet to win Patriot League “Defensive Player of the Year” award in women's soccer and only the second to win regional first-team all-America recognition.[39]
Then-CDR Gail Kulisch took command of the Atlantic Strike Team, becoming the first female commanding officer of a Strike Team in the U.S. Coast Guard.[40]
Cadet 1/c Sarah Salazar became the first Hispanic female Regimental Commander at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.[41]
January: Yang Seung Sook becomes the first female general in the history of the South Korean military.[42]
May: Captain Philippa Tattersall becomes the first woman to earn the Royal Marines green beret. She is not allowed to serve in combat, however.[45]
September 26: Three female airforce officers are appointed as airforce fighter pilots in South Korea, making them the first women to become fighter pilots in the history of the country.[46]
2003
Maj. Anne Reiffenstein became the first female in Canada to command a combat arms sub-unit.[47]
The U.S Marine Corps Logistics Base's first female brown belt instructor was certified (Cpl. Theresa Barnes).[48]
Lt.-Cmdr. Marta Mulkins is the first woman to serve as a captain of a Canadian warship.[49]
Maj. Jennie Carignan of 5 Combat Engineer Regiment (5 CER) becomes the first female Deputy Commanding Officer of a combat arms unit in Canada.[50]
Leading Seaman Hayley John and Leading Seaman Marketa Semik are the first female clearance divers in Canada.[51]
Master Seaman Colleen Beattie is the first woman in Canada qualified as a submariner, followed shortly by Master Seaman Carey Ann Stewart.[52]
The first and only all female Canadian military team to complete the Nijmegan March in Holland carrying the same weight as male teams do so in 2003. The team members are: team leader Lieut. Debbie Scott, second-in-command Capt. Lucie Mauger, Lieut. Jody Weathered, Cpl. Elizabeth Mutch, Warrant Officer Nathalie Mercer, Warrant Officer Jackie Revell, Master Corporal Denise Robert, Cpl. Melissa Cedilot, Cpl. Danette Frasz, Lt.-Col. Teresa McNutt, Lieut. Donna Rogers and Cpl. Anne MacDonald.[53]
First active-duty women in the U.S. Coast Guard to serve in a combat zone: when CGC Boutwell served in the Northern-Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf) in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom from January 2003 to June 2003.[55]
LT Holly Harrison became the first U.S. Coast Guard woman to command a cutter in a combat zone. She was also the first Coast Guard woman to be awarded the Bronze Star Medal.[56]
In December 2003 U.S. Coast Guard helicopter pilot LCDR Sidonie Bosin was recognized by the First Flight Centennial Commission's 100 Heroes Committee (formed for the commemoration of the Wright Brothers first powered flight) as being one of the "top 100 aviators of all time." She was also the first female aviation officer in charge of air crews deployed to the Coast Guard cutter Polar Sea in the Antarctic, including one of an all-female flight crew.[57]
March: Shoshana Johnson becomes the first black female prisoner of war in United States history.[66]
March 23:[67]SPCLori Piestewa, USA, is killed in action. She is the first woman soldier to be killed in action in the 2003 Iraq Conflict,[68] and the first Native American woman to be killed in action while serving in the United States Military.[69]
April 7: CaptKim Campbell, USAF, gains favorable notice when she successfully pilots her aircraft back to base despite extensive damage in a combat mission.[70][71]
July: Lt.-Cdr. Marta Mulkins takes command of a Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel, HMCS Kingston. She is the first woman commanding officer of a Canadian Navy ship.[72]
In 2003 Sarah Schechter became the first female rabbi in the U.S. Air Force.[75][76]
In 2003 the Air Force Academy removed its sign stating "Bring Me Men". [77] In 2004 they replaced it with a sign stating "Integrity First. Service Before Self. Excellence In All We Do," which is the Air Force's statement of core values. [78]
2004
The first woman in US Air Force history takes command of a fighter squadron.[79]
Chief Petty Officer, 1st Class Jan Davis is appointed Coxswain of HMCS Regina and is the first woman Coxswain of a major warship in Canada.[80]
Major D., an IAF MANAT (Flight Test Center) test-engineer flew the F-16I Sufa on Tuesday (27/4/04). She was the first woman in the Israel Defense Forces to fly a F-16I jet.[81][82]
Then-CDR Meredith Austin of the U.S. Coast Guard took command of the National Strike Force Coordination Center, becoming the first female commanding officer of the Center.[83]
YNC Crystal A. Sparks pf the U.S. Coast Guard became the first female Company Commander School Chief at TRACEN Petaluma.[84]
LCDR Rhonda Fleming-Makell was the first African-American female U.S. Coast Guard officer to earn a 20-year retirement.[85]
YNCM Pamela J. Carter was the first female active duty master chief petty officer in the U.S. Coast Guard to retire with 30 years of active-duty service when she retired on 1 June 2004.[86]
First female commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard Institute: Theresa Tierney, August, 2004.[87]
LCDR Louvenia A. McMillan became the U.S. Coast Guard's first African American female Intelligence Officer (2004); the first African American female Field Intelligence Support Team Leader (2004); and the first African American woman to hold the Advanced Boat Force Operations Insignia (2007).[88]
Jill Morgenthaler, a retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel, handles press duties for the army, including the Abu Ghraib scandal.[89][90][91]
First Lieutenant Melissa Stockwell, a U.S. Army officer, becomes the first American female soldier to lose a limb in the Iraq War.[92]
January 2: CPTKimberly Hampton, USA, becomes the first female military pilot to be shot down and killed by an enemy in United States history.[95][96][97]
April 9: SPC Michelle Witmer is killed in Baghdad. She is the first woman from the United StatesNational Guard to be killed in action in history.[98] Her sister was subsequently removed from action by the military, citing the risk that enemy forces might target her in an effort to harm U.S. morale.[99]
October 31: S/SgtDenise Rose, British Army, becomes the first female British soldier to die in military operations in the Iraq War.[104] Her death is ruled to be a suicide by an inquest.[105]
Katie MacFarlane graduates West Point as the Patriot League's all-time leading rebounder in both men's and women's basketball and is the Army women's basketball record-holder in scoring, rebounding and field goals.[108]
BG Rebecca Halstead (USMA '81) becomes the first female West Point graduate to attain the rank of general officer. Before the end of the year, BG Anne Macdonald (USMA '80) becomes a second.[109]
Michelle Weinbaum, a West Point cadet, becomes the first fencer in the 72-year history of the Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association to win three consecutive invitational titles.[110]
By year’s end, 19 U.S. servicewomen had been killed as a result of hostile action since the war in Iraq had begun in 2003, the most servicewomen to die as a result of hostile action in any war that the nation had participated.[111]
2005
LTJG Jeanine McIntish-Menze became the first African-American female U.S. Coast Guard aviator when she pinned on her wings of gold on 24 June 2005.[112]
SGTLeigh Ann Hester, USA, received the Silver Star for her actions in Iraq during an enemy ambush on their convoy near the town of Salman Pak. She killed at least 3 of the attacking insurgents. Hester was the first female soldier to receive the award for exceptional valor since World War II and the first woman ever to receive the silver star for close combat.[113][114]
May 16: SPCSabrina Harman, USAR, is convicted of one count of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of dereliction of duty in connection with the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal scandal.[118]
Khara Keegan becomes the first female West Point cadet to receive the “Outstanding Boxer Awards” at the 49th Brigade Boxing Open.[127]
1LT Laura Walker (USMA '03) becomes the first female West Point graduate to be killed in action when she is killed in Kandahar, Afghanistan.[128]
Cpl. Ramona M. Valdez and Lance Cpl. Holly A. Charette became the first female Marines killed in Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated near their convoy vehicle in Fallujah.[129]
2006
The U.S. Coast Guard appoints the first female Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard, making her the first woman in history to serve as a deputy service chief in any of the U.S. Armed Forces.[130]
The U.S. Marine Corps assigns the first female Marine in history to command a Recruit
CWO3 Mary Ward became the first female warrant boatswain to command a U.S. Coast Guard station when she took command of Station Port Canaveral in 2006 where she served until her retirement on 16 June 2006.[132]
CWO2 Apple G. Pryor, assigned as the Main Propulsion Assistant onboard the CGC Boutwell, was the first African-American female Naval Engineering Chief Warrant Officer of the U.S. Coast Guard.[133]
LT Isabel Papp was the first female medical officer to be assigned to a PSU in the U.S. Coast Guard. She was also the first Hispanic female MD to be assigned to a PSU and was also the first Hispanic female Physician's Assistant in the Coast Guard Reserve.[134]
LT Rachel Lewis was the first African-American female officer in the U.S. Coast Guard to serve aboard USCGB Eagle as Command Cadre (Operations Officer), 2006-2008.[135]
May 17: Captain Nichola Goddard, (Canadian Forces Land Force Command), becomes the first Canadian woman to be killed in action since World War II, and the first Canadian female combat soldier to be killed on the front lines. She was near the front lines serving as a forward artillery observer during a battle with Taliban forces. She was killed when a rocket-propelled grenade struck her light-armoured vehicle.[142][143]
June 16: PteMichelle Norris, British Army, saves the life of her sergeant by climbing out of a vehicle and pulling him from the turret of the Warrior Patrol Vehicle that they were in while under heavy gunfire. She is eventually awarded the Military Cross for her actions, and is the first woman to receive one.[144][145][146][147]
August 12: Sgt. Maj. Keren Tendler, the first female Israeli helicopter flight mechanic, is killed in action during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict along with four other crew members. A fund is later established in her name to help other women become flight mechanics.[148]
September 8: SFC Meredith Howard, USA, is killed in action in Afghanistan. At age 52, she is the oldest American female soldier to be killed in combat.[149]
September 22: Aviation Cadet Saira Amin wins the Sword of Honour at The Pakistan Air Force Academy, becoming the first female aviation cadet to do so.[150]
December: The number of American servicewomen killed in Iraq and Afghanistan reaches 70, more than the total from the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm. The 70 women represent less than two percent of the American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.[151]
December 6: MajMegan McClung, USMC, became the first female Marine officer to die in Iraq.[153] Her death also made her the first female graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy to be killed in the line of duty.[154]
2007
Mary Cunningham became the first African-American female and the first active-duty female in the U.S. Coast Guard to make Chief Damage Controlman when she was promoted from DC1 to DCC on 1 August 2007.[155]
LCDR Louvenia A. McMillan became the first African American female in the U.S. Coast Guard to hold the Advanced Boat Force Operations Insignia (2007).[156]
On 25 September 2007 AMT2 Katrina Cooley became the first African-American female HH-65 Flight Mechanic in the U.S. Coast Guard.[157]
Martha E. Utley became the first female master chief for the Health Services rating in the U.S. Coast Guard.[158]
In 2007 the Brigade of Gurkhas announced that women are allowed to join.[159] Like their British counterparts, Gurkha women are eligible to join the Engineers, Logistics Corps, Signals and brigade band, although not infantry units.[160]
January 19: The United Nations first all female peacekeeping force is set to deploy to Liberia. The peacekeeping force is made up of 105 Indian policewomen.[161]
Spring: Spc Sorimar Perez and Spc Amanda Landers become the first women in the history of the United States military to become Avenger crewmembers. The positions were restricted to males until October 2006.[162]
March: Acting Leading Seaman Faye Turney, a British sailor, is captured by Iran along with fourteen other British sailors. While captive, she appears on television apologizing for trespassing in Iranian waters, and also writes a letter stating that she and her fellow sailors "apparently trespassed" on Iranian waters.[165]
April: The fifteen British sailors captured by Iran are released. It is revealed that Acting Leading Seaman Faye Turney was separated from the other sailors and singled out for special treatment by the Iranians. In a news conference, some of the other sailors state that she was used as a propaganda tool by Iran.[166] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad criticizes the United Kingdom for sending Turney, the mother of a young child, into a war zone.[167]
April: Monica Lin Brown, Specialist in the United States Army stationed in Afghanistan, saves the lives of her fellow soldiers by running through gunfire and using her body as a shield while mortars fell nearby. She earned a Silver Star medal for her actions.[168][169]
July 10: Captain María Inés Ortiz, U.S. Army, becomes the first Puerto Rican nurse to die in combat and first Army nurse to die in combat since the Vietnam War.[170]
The first woman in US Naval history takes command of a fighter squadron.[173]
The last U.S. female veteran of World War I dies, a former yeoman (F). Her name was Charlotte Winters.[174]
U.S. Spec. Jamiell Goforth became the first female soldier to win the Forces Command Soldier of the Year competition.[175]
The Service Women's Action Network was established in 2007 to provide U.S. female veterans with resources and community support to help them heal their wounds and readjust to civilian society. SWAN has since become a 501(c)3 human rights organization providing national policy advocacy and direct services to U.S. servicewomen and female veterans.[176]
Since 2007, Mexico's army has allowed women soldiers to work as pilots and engineers in addition to nurses and doctors. [177]
2008
Jennifer Lowden became the first female school chief for Training Center Yorktown in the U.S. Coast Guard on 01 June 2008. She also became the first female MKCS in the Coast Guard when she was promoted on 01 August 2008.[178]
May 23: Lt. Col. Pi Woo-jin, one of the first female helicopter pilots in the South Korean military, is reinstated into the military after a legal battle over her forced medical discharge after she underwent a mastectomy for breast cancer. She is the first soldier to ever be reinstated into the South Korean military after a forced medical discharge.[180]
June 18: Corporal Sarah Bryant becomes the first female British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan when she and three other SAS men die in a roadside bomb.[183][184]
September 30: As of this date, over 200,000 women are serving active duty in the United States military.[185]
November 14: Lieutenant General Ann E. Dunwoody, U.S. Army, becomes the first U.S. military female officer to be promoted to the rank of four-star general.[186]
The Pentagon reports that the number of reports of sexual assault in the U.S. military rose by 8 percent this year from 2007.[187]
Shawna Kimbrell becomes the first black female fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force.[188]
Christy Isis Achanzar becomes the first Filipina to graduate from West Point.[189]
2009
Flt Lt Kirsty Moore became the first female aviator for the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows, the RAF's aerobatic team.[190]
LT Felicia Thomas took command of the CGC Pea Island on 19 June 2009. She is the first African-American female commanding officer of a U.S. Coast Guard cutter.[191]
LT Carrie Wolfe and LT Olivia Grant became the first African-American female Engineering Officers on a "major" cutter in the U.S. Coast Guard when they reported aboard the CGC Spencer and CGC Venturous respectively in the summer of 2009.[192]
CAPT Sandra L. Stosz was promoted to RADM, becoming the first female graduate of the Coast Guard Academy to reach flag rank.[193]
January: Kim Rivera, the first female soldier flee the U.S. military for Canada, is deported back to the United States after losing her appeal in Canadian court.[194]
January 21: Samira Jassam, an Iraqi recruiter of female suicide bombers, is captured. She admits to organizing rapes against potential recruits in order to convince them that martyrdom was the only means to escape their shame.[195][196][197]
February 20: Lt. Col. Brenda Cartier becomes the first female flying squadron commander in the United States Air Force Special Operations Command.[198]
April 8: Commander Josée Kurtz becomes the first woman to command a major Canadian warship.[72]
April 15: "The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq" is published. It consists of forty interviews of female veterans discussing their experiences of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment by their male counterparts.[187]
April: Lance Corporal Amy Thomas finishes her six month tour of duty, the last two months of which she spent attached to the elite Royal Marines of 42 Command. She is believed to be the British Army’s first female combatant. Women are traditionally unable to join the Marines or infantry regiments in the British military.[199][200]
Statistics from the U.S. Defense Department state that one in 10 U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are female, and more women have fought and died in the Iraq war than any since World War II.[187]
August: Abu Sayyaf, a militant Islamic group in the Philippines, is reported to be recruiting female fighters.[201]
September: The United States Army makes Command Sgt. Maj. Teresa L. King the first woman to oversee drill sergant training in its 235-year history.[202]
First Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte became the first female U.S. Air Force Academy graduate to be killed by enemy forces in Afghanistan or Iraq. She died near Kabul, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered in a roadside bomb attack.[205]
2010
On 9 April 2010 LTJG La'Shanda Holmes became the first African-American female helicopter pilot in the U.S. Coast Guard.[206]
CWO2 Rosie McNeill became the first female ISS warrant officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.[207]
Rear Adm. Margaret Kibben became the first female chaplain of the U.S. Marine Corps.[208]
July 18: A Taliban leader calls for the deaths of Afghan women training to join the Afghan military.[210][211][212]
Divya Ajith Kumar becomes the first woman in the history of the Indian Army to receive the Sword of Honour, which is the highest award given to a cadet of the Officers Training Academy.[213]
The Afghanistan army gets its first female officers.[214]
Ali Thompson becomes the first female U.S. Marine pilot to command a squadron. Lt Col Ali Thompson, a CH-53E pilot, took command of HMH-464 on board MCAS New River, NC, relieving Lt Col Richard Rush.[215]
The Nigerian Navy promotes its first woman to the rank of rear admiral (her name is Itinu Hotonu).[216]
U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Nora Tyson became the first woman to command a carrier strike group.[217]
Lieutenant Alexandra Hansen was made the first female commanding officer of a ship (the HMNZS Pukaki) in the Royal New Zealand Navy. [218].
2011
On 1 March 2011 Kristin Werner became the first female Chief Gunner's Mate in the U.S. Coast Guard.[219]
On 3 June 2011 RADM Sandra Stosz assumed command of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy, becoming the first woman superintendent of that institution, and the first woman to command any U.S. service academy.[220][221]
Major Mitali Madhumita becomes the first female officer in India to be decorated with a gallantry medal.[222]
Shikha Awasthi, a cadet of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) at Pune, India, becomes the first woman to receive a Sword of Honour for overall excellence at the passing-out parade of the institute. She also becomes the first graduate of AFMC to receive all three top honours, namely, the Sword of Honour, the Presidents Gold Medal and the Kalinga Trophy.[223]
Air Force Major General Margaret Woodward, 51, becomes the first American woman to lead a combat air campaign. She directs the airstrikes over Libya for 11 days, until NATO takes over.[224]
An anonymous woman becomes the first to undertake combat missions in the RAF's new Typhoon fighter.[225]
The first all-female U.S. Air Force combat mission is flown by Maj. Christine Mau, Maj. Tracy Schmidt, Capt. Leigh Larkin, and Capt. Jennifer Morton, called the "Strike Eagles of 'Dudette 07'." They fly two F-15E jets in a sortie over Afghanistan.[226][227]
Ramona Go is the Philippine army's first female general.[228]
Captain Lisa Head is the first British female officer to be killed in Afghanistan.[229] She is also the first British female bomb disposal expert to be killed in action.[230]
Ramatoulie DK Sanneh is the first female Brigadier General in Gambia.[231]
Rear-Admiral Jennifer Bennett is appointed as the first female Chief, Reserves and Cadets, in Canada.[232]
Capt. Donna Cottrell becomes the first female commanding officer of the Coast Guard’s one-of-a-kind tactical drug interdiction helicopter squadron.[233]
Orna Barbivay becomes the first female Major General in the Israel Defense Forces.[234]
Brigadier General Lori Reynolds becomes the first female commander at Parris Island.[235] Furthermore, while serving a yearlong tour of duty with the group at Camp Leatherneck Afghanistan, Reynolds became the "first female Marine to command battle space," according to the website for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.[236] She was the first woman in the Marine Corps to command units in a war zone.[237]
For the first time, four sisters from the same family (the Robillards) graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy.[238]
Sarah West is appointed as the first female warship commander in the Royal Navy of the British Armed Forces.[239]
Second Lieutenant Noy, a combat soldier in the Caracal Battalion, became the first female officer to command a sniper platoon in the Israel Defense Forces.[240]
Julie Bentz became the first female brigadier general in the American National Guard.[241]
A 30-year-old RAF officer (Flight Lieutenant Rachael Cadman) became the first woman to complete the Enduroman Arch2Arc Challenge.[242]
Warrant Officer Class One Esther Freeborn became the first female Bandmaster in the 350-year history of the Household Cavalry in England.[243][244]
The first all-female team of skydivers of the Indian Air Force made its official debut during the annual Air Force Day parade.[250]
Jessica Ray became the first female Avenger master gunner in the U.S. army.[251]
Brigadier Simone Wilkie became the first woman to be in command of Australian soldiers at war. Specifically, Brigadier Wilkie, 47, was National Commander, Afghanistan, and was in charge of all 1500 Australian personnel serving with ADF units and embedded with international forces in the combat zone.[252]
Chantelle Taylor became the first female British soldier to reveal she killed an enemy fighter while on active combat, which she did in 2008 and revealed in 2011. [253]
The first woman joined the ranks of the Mexican navy's special forces. [256]
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed that women are to be allowed to serve on the submarines of the Royal Navy (the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces). The first women officers will begin serving on Vanguard-class nuclear subs in late 2013. They will be followed by female ratings in 2015, when women should also begin serving on the new Astute-class subs. [257]
Robyn Walker became the first woman in the Australian Navy to attain the rank of Rear Admiral and to take on the job of Surgeon‑General for the Australian Defence Force. [258]
Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho became the first female U.S. Army surgeon general. [259]
^ Editorial: September 11 brought a 'new normal': Status quo has been upended. The Beaufort Gazette, S.C. wire feed distributed by Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. Washington: Sep 10, 2006. pg. 1