Brig. Gen. Laura Yeager, a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot who served in Iraq, will become the first woman to command a U.S. Army Infantry Division later this month, ABC reports.
The backdrop: Last year, then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said "the jury is still out" on whether a 2015 U.S. military policy allowing women to serve in traditionally all-male combat roles was been successful, since too few women had participated.
- Senior Marine Corps leaders disagreed with allowing women in military jobs, while the Pentagon’s other 3 military services and U.S. Special Operations Command supported the move.
Go deeper: First woman set to lead largest U.S. Army command