By Agencies
US Brigadier General Diana Holland delivers remarks at a ceremony where she assumed the role as the first female Commandant of Cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, January 5, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]
West Point, N.Y. - The first female commandant (click here) of cadets at the US Military Academy was sworn in on Tuesday, the latest milestone for American women who now are allowed to serve all military combat roles.
Brigadier General Diana Holland, 47, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, assumed the leadership post after being honored in packed ceremony at the academy 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City, whose graduates typically serve as Army officers.
"I'm very grateful for this opportunity," said Holland, a 1990 West Point graduate who thanked her husband and father for their support and said she looked forward to working with the cadets. "They ask for so little, only to be well led."
Holland assumes the historic leadership position a month after the US military struck down gender barriers in the armed forces, announcing it would accept women in all combat jobs previously open only to men, from leading infantry soldiers into battle to serving as Navy SEALS...
