Margaret A. Brewer, first female general in Marine Corps, dies at 82 - The Washington Post: Margaret A. Brewer, 82, a retired brigadier general who was the first woman to hold the rank of general in the Marine Corps and who led the Marines’ public affairs division late in her career, died Jan. 2 at Greenspring retirement community in Springfield. She had Alzheimer’s disease.
Her death was confirmed by retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught, president of the Women in Military Service for America Foundation.
Gen. Brewer joined the Marine Corps in 1952 and held a variety of roles in officer recruiting and training, personnel management, and public affairs before she was named a brigadier general in 1978.
As a colonel, she had been director of women in the Marine Corps since 1973, but her position was eliminated in 1977, as women were integrated more fully into the corps. After serving as deputy director of the information division, she was nominated to lead the division — but the director was required to be a general.
Because the Marine Corps did not allow women to be generals at the time, Gen. Brewer received her star by special appointment from President Jimmy Carter and approval of both houses of Congress. (In 1985, Gail M. Reals became the first woman promoted to general through the Marine Corps ranks.)
