The Military: The US Army
15 Active-Duty Four-Star Generals
Female Participation in the Army on the rise, but still behind other Military branches
Army General Mark Milley (right), with his predecessor as the country’s top military officer, Marine General Joseph F. Dunford Jr. (left). (photo: 2018 – James K. McCann/US Army) Boston Globe
In 2022, in addition to General Mark Milley who heads the Joint Chiefs of Staff, there are 15 Active Duty four-star Army Generals.
Five of these head a Unified Combatant Command. One of these is General Laura J. Richardson, who is Commander of the U.S. Southern Command.
15 Active four-star Generals in the US Army
(1 out of 15 – 6.7%)
Lt. Gen. Laura J. Richardson of the Army listening to Gen. Mark A. Milley, then the Army chief of staff, testifying before Congress in 2016.Credit. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The remaining ten leadership Commands in the U.S. Army are all headed by men.
And what about the pipeline? The US Army has the greatest number of female officers in total: nearly 16,000 in 2017, according to the DMDC Active Duty Military Personnel Master File.
Basic Leader Course graduates reciting the Creed of the Noncommissioned Officer at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, May 2019. (Army Nat’l Guard photo by Sgt. Roger Jackson)
According to an April 2019 report by the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN), in 2018 women made up 11.8% of the E7 to E9 top military ranks in the US Army. This is significant gain from the preceding decades, but still below the 20% in the Air Force. It is roughly on par with 11.6% female top officers in the Navy, while notably higher than 5.6% in the Marine Corps and 8.7% in the Coast Guard
What will it take for women to get into the Power Percentage of Officers and Leaders of the United States Army?