Becky Halstead Biography

Becky Halstead is a retired U.S. Army Brigadier General. She was the first female graduate of West Point to become a general officer. She culminated her career as the 34th Chief of Ordnance and Commandant of the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Schools at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

Halstead was born in Willseyville, New York in 1959, and is a 1977 graduate of Candor, New York's Candor High School. She graduated from the United States Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1981 and was a member of the second academy class that included women.

Lieutenant Colonel Halstead, commander, 325th Forward Support Battalion, 1997
When she was assigned to the Ordnance Corps, her early positions included: platoon leader, operations officer and executive officer with the 69th Ordnance Company, 559th Artillery Group in Vicenza, Italy; commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 80th Ordnance Battalion, Fort Lewis, Washington; commander, 63rd Ordnance company, 80th Ordnance Battalion, Fort Lewis, Washington; and Materiel Officer, 80th Ordnance Battalion, Fort Lewis, Washington.

Her later assignments included: assignment officer, Ordnance Branch, Total Army Personnel Command, Alexandria, Virginia; aide-de-camp to the commander, Combined Arms Support Command and Fort Lee, Fort Lee, Virginia; support operations officer and battalion executive officer, 526th Forward Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky; logistics staff officer, and assistant executive officer to the U.S. Army's Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics; commander, 325th Forward Support Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; commander, 10th Mountain Division Support Command (DISCOM), Fort Drum, New York, including duty as logistics staff officer (C-4) for Coalition Task Force Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom; and executive officer to the combatant commander, United States Southern Command, Miami, Florida.

Colonel Halstead as deputy commander of 21st Theater Support Command, 2003

Brigadier General Halstead accepts 3rd COSCOM colors during change of command ceremony, 2004
In September 2003 Halstead was assigned as Deputy Commander of the 21st Theater Support Command in Germany. In September 2004 she was assigned as commander, 3rd Corps Support Command (COSCOM), including deployment to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In January 2005, she was promoted to Brigadier General, the first female graduate of West Point to attain general officer rank.

In 2006 Halstead was assigned as the Army's Chief of Ordnance and commander, U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Schools at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. During her tenure, she took part in the planning for the Army's effort to streamline its Ordnance, Transportation and Supply career fields by creating a single Combined Logistics branch. As part of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) initiative, this streamlining included the closing of Abderdeen Proving Ground and the relocation of the Ordnance Center to Fort Lee, Virginia. She retired from the military in June 2008.

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