Snow Shuts Down Nations Capital

God bless those who value duty and honor above inconvenience...

Air Force, DOD pioneer passes away

WASHINGTON (AFRNS) -- The first woman to serve as major general in
the Air Force, and the Department of Defense, passed away Feb. 15.

Retired Maj. Gen. Jeanne M. Holm is credited as the single driving
force in achieving parity for military women and making them a viable
part of the mainstream military.

The Portland, Ore., native became a two-star general in 1973 after a
career that began 31 years earlier in 1942 when she enlisted in the
Army. General Holm entered Women's Army Air Corps in January 1943
where she received a commission as third officer, the WAAC equivalent
of second lieutenant.

General Holm also became the first woman to attend the Air Command
and Staff School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., in 1952.

She was promoted to brigadier general July 16, 1971, the first female
Airman to be appointed in this grade. She was promoted to the grade
of major general effective June 1, 1973, with date of rank July 1,
1970 -- the first woman in the armed forces to serve in that grade.

In recognition of General Holm's pioneering career, Air Force
officials renamed the Air Force Officer Accession and Training
Schools at Maxwell AFB the Jeanne M. Holm Officer Accession and
Citizen Development Center in June 2008. Its mission is Air Force
officer recruitment and training within the Air University.

General Holm was also an author of two books about women in the
military. "Women in the Military: An Unfinished Revolution" came
out in 1982 and was updated in 1994. Four years later she wrote "In
Defense of a Nation: Servicewomen in World War II."

During World War II, General Holm was assigned to the Women's Army
Corps Training Center at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., where she first
commanded a basic training company and then a training regiment. At
the end of the war, she commanded the 106th WAC Hospital Company at
Newton D. Baker General Hospital, W.Va. She then left active
military duty in 1946.

In October 1948 during the Berlin crisis, she was recalled to active
duty with the Army and went to Camp Lee, Va., as a company
commander. The following year she transferred to the Air Force, when
a new law integrated women in the regular armed forces.

General Holm served in a variety of personnel assignments, including
director of Women in the Air Force from 1965 to 1973. She played a
significant role in eliminating restrictions on numbers of women
serving in all ranks, expanding job and duty station assignments for
women, opening ROTC and service academies to women, and changing the
policies on the status of women in the armed forces. During her
tenure, policies affecting women were updated, WAF strength more than
doubled, job and assignment opportunities expanded, and uniforms modernized.

The general retired in 1975. She served three presidential
administrations: special assistant on women for President Gerald
Ford, policy consultant for President James Carter and first
chairperson of the Veterans Administration's Committee on Women
Veterans for President Ronald Reagan