Army Foundation Inducts Army Women Leaders into Hall of Fame

There might come a day when society stops punctuating women’s accomplishments and successes with the words “the first woman to be X” or “the first woman to accomplish Y.” But until that day, those who gathered March 22 at an Army museum in Virginia were in awe of the six great military women leaders—each the definition of pioneer—who were inducted into the U.S. Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame.

AFCEA’s own president and CEO, Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence, USA (Ret.), was among the inductees, honored for her extraordinary 40-year military career, serving as the Army’s first female chief information officer, being a role model for men and women while in uniform, and out, and her selection as AFCEA’s first female president and CEO.

“You don't get here alone,” Gen. Lawrence said during the ceremony. “I think about all t hose people who have influenced me—my friends, my colleagues, my bosses, especially, who saw something more in me than I saw.”

Gen. Lawrence shared that she had one boss who encouraged her to move from enlisted to the officer corps, and guided her toward both college and airborne school, the latter making her most nervous because of her fear of heights. But she jumped and earned her wings. “Getting out of your comfort zone, searching for other things to do and building that team around you is why I was able to do what I was able to do.

“Make sure to be that person who reaches out to someone who doesn't see their full potential and bring them along, because that's the most important thing you can do for our future generation.”

Lawrence was in good company, as during an afternoon ceremony—aptly timed to coincide with Women’s History Month—attendees heard about and from true inspirational trailblazers each with an element of “first woman” in their biographies.

“Just look around this room to see the greatness that is here: the women trailblazers, the leaders who have empathy, courage, professionalism, commitment, candor, competence—all of the leadership attributes we talk about are embodied by the women who are about to be inducted in the hall of fame today,” keynote speaker Lt. Gen. Douglas Stitt, USA, deputy chief of staff, G1, said during the ceremony held at the National Museum of the United States Army near Fort Belvoir.

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If the words of the women’s stories didn’t put things into perspective, he suggested, perhaps the numbers would. In today’s Army, he shared.

• Women comprise 19% of the Army’s workforce.
• They can work in 19 military occupations that were formally closed to women.
• Today, 1,019 women currently serve in those formally closed occupations.

In addition to the inductions, the foundation honored active duty and veteran women and their direct descendants with numerous academic scholarships, to include the inaugural scholarship honoring the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Known as the Six Triple Eight, the trailblazers from the Women’s Army Corps served during WWII and the soldiers were the only all-Black female battalion to serve in Europe—clearing more than 17 million pieces of backlogged mail to make sure serving troops stayed in touch with their loved ones back home. 

“Even in the era of digital communication and instant gratification, there is nothing that boosts morale like a letter from home,” Gen. Stitt said during the March 22 ceremony.

In March 2022, President Joe Biden signed the signed the Six Triple Eight Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2021 into law, awarding the medal to the 855 women. Movie director Tyler Perry is filming a movie about the battalion and women’s accomplishments. It will star Kerry Washington, Oprah Winfrey and Susan Sarandon.

2023 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

Founded in 1969, the U.S. Army Women’s Foundation is the oldest woman veteran’s organization in the United States. It provides scholarships and serves as a national network for Army active duty women and veterans. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to promote public interest in the Army by recognizing and honoring the service of all U.S. Army women, past and present, and to support the Army Women’s Museum.

U.S. Army Women’s Foundation 2023 Hall of Fame inductees include:

The Honorable M. Tia Johnson, U.S. Army colonel (Ret.)

Johnson achieved many firsts during her 30-year career in the Army, including being the first African-American woman to be promoted to the rank of colonel in the 227-year history of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. She was the first woman to serve as chief, operational law to an Army Corps, advising war planners and warfighters, and the first Black woman to chair an academic department at the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Generals’ School.

On January 3, Johnson was sworn in as a judge for the military’s top court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The military court consists of five civilian judges, each appointed to 15-year terms. She is the first black woman to serve on the court.

Lt. Gen. Flora D. Darpino (Ret.)

Darpino is a combat veteran who broke numerous gender barriers throughout her career. She holds the distinction of being the first and highest-ranking woman appointed as the JAG of the United States Army since the establishment of the Army in 1775.

As the Army’s JAG, Darpino served as the senior military lawyer for the Army and the principal legal adviser to the secretary of the Army. She directed more than 10,000 lawyers in the JAG Corps at more than 100 active and Reserve Army legal offices across the United States and overseas. Her legacy lives on in the people she led and inspired.

Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence (Ret.)

Lawrence is a distinguished Army leader, mentor and role model who broke multiple gender barriers throughout her more than 39-year career as both an enlisted soldier and officer.

She is one of the longest-serving members of the Women’s Army Corps. She is the first female to serve as the Army’s top and highest-ranking signal officer, chief information officer/G6. Before that, Lawrence served as the first female commanding general, 5th Signal Command, and the U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army chief information officer/assistant chief of staff, G-6.

Lawrence continues to serve the military and veteran community as the first female president and CEO of AFCEA International in the association’s 75-year history.

Brig. Gen. Rebecca S. Halstead (Ret.)

Halstead is a trailblazer and role model who has achieved many firsts during her 27-year career in the Army.

She is the first woman graduate of the service academies to be promoted to flag rank, the first woman to command in combat at the strategic level, and the first woman chief of ordnance and commandant of the U.S. Army Ordnance School.

However, more important than her firsts were the ways in which she led and continues to lead. Halstead has made extraordinary contributions to the Army and to Army women and men. She is an inspirational speaker, caring leader and author of “24/7: The First Person You Must Lead Is YOU.”

Brig. Gen. Velma “Von” L. Richardson (Ret.)

Richardson is a trailblazer, leader and mentor. She is the second Black female general officer in the history of the U.S. Army and the first Black female officer to obtain the rank of brigadier general in the Army’s Signal corps.

At the time of her retirement from the Army in 2003, she was the senior African-American woman in the active Army.

Throughout her 31-year Army career, she has always been a strong advocate for soldiers — male and female — and their personal and professional development.

Richardson has interests in mentorship, education, youth and national security, and she belongs to organizations and serves on boards that feed those interests.

Command Sgt. Maj. Debra L. Strickland

Strickland is an Army combat veteran, mentor, coach and advocate for soldiers and their families.

Strickland achieved many firsts during her 36-year career. She served as the first command sergeant major of Installation Management Command in 2006. Before that, she was the first woman command sergeant major of Installation Management Agency in 2002. As IMCOM’s chief advocate for quality-of-life issues she developed many Army programs, to include the First Sergeant’s Barracks Initiative.

She culminated her career as the first female command sergeant major and base camp sergeant major for Base Support Group Kabul, Afghanistan.

Strickland continues to focus on improving fellow veterans’ lives through several means, including awarding scholarships in memory of her husband, Sgt. Major Larry L. Strickland, who was killed in the attack on the Pentagon.