Ruth A. Lucas, first black female Air Force colonel - The Washington Post

Ruth A. Lucas, first black female Air Force colonel - The Washington Post: Ruth A. Lucas, the first African American woman in the Air Force to be promoted to the rank of colonel and who at the time of her retirement was the highest-ranking African American woman in the Air Force, died March 23 at her home in Washington. She was 92.

She had inanition and cardiac arrest, said her great-niece Laurie Ward.

Col. Lucas enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in 1942 and was one the first black women to attend what is now the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk. She held a variety of positions, mainly in research and education, before being named a colonel in 1968.

At the time of her promotion, Col. Lucas was a general education and counseling services assistant in the office of the deputy assistant secretary of defense for education at the Pentagon. She created, organized and implemented special literacy programs aimed to increase the education levels of service personnel.