The California National Guard has announced the appointment of the first woman to lead a US Army infantry division.
Brig Gen Laura Yeager will assume command of the 40thInfantry Division on June 29 at Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos,California. Yeager currently commands Joint Task Force North, U.S. NorthernCommand at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Yeager was commissioned in 1986 as a second lieutenant fromthe Reserve Officer Training Corps at California State University, Long Beach.
She served as UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot, left activeduty when her son was born and continued her military career in the CaliforniaArmy National Guard.Yeager deployed to Iraq in 2011 as deputycommander of the Cal Guard’s 40th Combat Aviation Brigade, then served as abattalion and brigade commander.