Breaking the brass ceiling: The U.S. military's top women
Breaking the brass ceiling is no small feat and the women who have done so have set a pretty high bar for future generations of soldiers with their incredible achievements.
Here's a look at some of the U.S. military's most accomplished women who have climbed the ranks of power in the American armed forces.
Lori Robinson
President Barack Obama named Air Force General Lori Robinson to the position of Commander of the U.S. Northern Command, otherwise known as NORAD, on March 22, 2016. The U.S. Senate approved her appointment May 12, making Robinson the first woman to head a U.S. combatant command.
Robinson was previously commander of Pacific Air Forces. She has more than 900 flight hours in the E-3B/C and E-8C aircraft. She previously held leadership roles in both the U.S. Air Forces Central Command and Air Combat Command.
In April, Time magazine named Robinson one of its 100 most influential people for 2016.
Kristen Griest - Army's 1st female infantry officer
It was announced April 27, 2016 that Captain Kristen Griest became the country's first female Army infantry officer. It is a major milestone as the U.S. military opens combat roles to women. Griest graduated from the Maneuver Captain's Course at Fort Benning April 28.
Then U.S. Army First Lieutenant Griest made history on August 21, 2015, when she and First Lieutenant Shaye Haver were the first women to complete the daunting U.S. Army Ranger school. Their success helped end questions about whether women can serve as combat leaders.
Both Griest and Haver were 34th on the 2016 list of World's Greatest Leaders published by Fortune magazine. Griest graduated from West Point in 2011 and served as a MP in Afghanistan.
Griest (C) is seen here with fellow soldiers in combatives training during the Ranger Course on Fort Benning, Georgia on April 20, 2015.
Cindy Jebb
Colonel Cindy Jebb is set to become the new dean of the United States Military Academy (USMA) with her appointment by President Barack Obama to the post. The 1982 graduate of the academy would become the first female dean at the 200-year-old institution once her appointment is approved by the U.S. Senate.
Jebb is also in line to become a brigadier general.
Jebb currently serves as the head of the department of social services at USMA. She has a Masters and PhD in political science from Duke University as well as Masters in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
Jeannie Leavitt
Colonel Jeannie Leavitt accepts the command guidon from Major General Lawrence Wells, commander of the Ninth Air Force, as she assumes command of the 4th Fighter Wing during a change-of-command ceremony at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, June 1, 2012. Looking on at right is outgoing commander Colonel Patrick Doherty.
In Jan. 2016, it was announced that Leavitt would be promoted to brigadier general -- becoming the highest-ranking female officer to command at Nellis Air Force Base in charge of the 57th Wing.
Kathryn Sullivan
Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Kathryn Sullivan is a former astronaut -- the first American woman to walk in space. Dr. Sullivan flew on the Space Shuttle Challenger. She retired from the Navy with the rank of captain.
Time magazine named Sullivan one of Time's 100 most influential people in the world in 2014. In 2016, Sullvian was recognized for her environmental leadership with the Rachel Carson Award from The National Audubon Society.
Anne Wright
Anne Wright is a retired army colonel who resigned in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq War. She spent 29 years in the Army and Army Reserves combined. Wright was also in the State Department for 16 years.
After resigning, she co-wrote "Dissent, Voices of Conscience."
Michelle Howard
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (L) puts four-star shoulder boards on the uniform of Admiral Michelle J. Howard during her promotion ceremony at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Arlington, Virginia on July 1, 2014.
Howard is the first woman to be promoted to the rank of admiral in the 239-year history of the Navy. She is also the highest-ranking African-American woman in the military.
Susan Helms
Astronaut Susan J. Helms served as a crew member for five Space Shuttle missions and lived on the International Space Station for five months in 2001.
The graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy reached the rank of Lieutenant General in the Air Force before retiring.
Claudia Kennedy
Claudia J. Kennedy achieved the rank of Lieutenant General in the army before she retired in 2000 after 31 years of service. She was the first woman to earn three stars. Kennedy served three tours overseas, two in Germany and one in South Korea.
Army investigators substantiated a charge Kennedy made that another army general touched her in a sexual manner and tried to kiss her in a Pentagon office in 1996. Kennedy spoke up about the incident after Brigadier General Larry Smith was going to be promoted to Army Deputy Inspector General, a position that was responsible for investigating sexual harassment claims.
Janet Wolfenbarger
General Janet C. Wolfenbarger (R) is pinned with her fourth star by her daughter, Callie, as her husband, retired Colonel Craig Wolfenbarger, looks on during a promotion ceremony at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio on June 5, 2012. The promotion made Wolfenbarger the first female four-star general in the Air Force.
Wolfenbarger, the daughter of an Air Force pilot, retired in 2015. Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh praised Wolfenbarger as a "brilliant" commander. She was among the first 157 women to enter the Air Force Academy in 1976.
Ann Rondeau
Ann E. Rondeau reached the rank of Vice Admiral in the U.S. Navy before her retirement in 2012. She received the Legion of Merit four times, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal and the Defense Distinguished Service Medal twice, among other awards.
Upon retirement, she served as President of the National Defense University. Rondeau now works as a consultant.
Michelle Johnson
Lieutenant General Michelle Johnson, Superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, is seen here speaking at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington on October 13, 2015.
Johnson has served her country for over three decades. She is the first woman to head one of the service academies.
Carla Hawley-Bowland
Major General Carla G. Hawley-Bowland was the first female Medical Corp general officer in the U.S. Army. During her career she commanded three out of five regional medical commands. She retired in 2011.
Here, Hawley-Bowland pins a Purple Heart medal on U.S. Army Sergeant Juan Roldan-Jaramillo during a ceremony at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 1, 2008. Sergeant Jaramillo lost both of his legs from an IED attack while on tour in Iraq.
Patricia Horoho
Lieutenant General Patricia Horoho was the 43rd Surgeon General of the U.S. Army and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command. She was the first woman to hold these appointments.
In addition to several military awards, she was recognized as a Nurse Hero by the American Red Cross for her actions during the 9/11 attacks, providing first-aid to 75 victims.
She retired from the Army on Feb. 1, 2016.
Diana Holland
Brigadier General Diana M. Holland is a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In this photo, she is seen delivering remarks at a ceremony where she assumed the role as the first female Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, January 5, 2016.
Holland's command is one of the latest milestones for American women who now are allowed to serve in all military combat roles.
Laura Richardson
Army Major General Laura J. Richardson is the first woman to serve as a deputy commander of a combat division.
Here, Richardson listens while seated behind Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley (L) during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the implementation of the decision to open all ground combat units to women on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 2, 2016.
Ann Dunwoody
Retired General Ann E. Dunwoody was the first woman to receive a four-star rank on Nov. 14, 2008. She was Commanding General of U.S. Army Material Command, a position President George W. Bush nominated her for in June 2008.
Dunwoody served in the Persian Gulf War and received the Distinguished Service Medal twice during her career. Among her many resume credentials was her command of the 82nd Airborne Division in 1992.