#LeadershipTuesdays: Modeling Achievement...Donna W. Martin

“My wish, my desire is that at some point in our history there won’t be a ‘first woman’ doing anything, it will just be somebody doing something..."

--Major General Donna W. Martin, Commanding General, Fort Leonard Wood U.S. Army Installation, Missouri

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today we feature military trailblazer, Major General Donna W. Martin. She is one of 71 women generals and admirals serving in active duty in the military. Women in these type of senior leadership positions represent 7.5% of the total 939 active duty generals and admirals, so she is in a rarefied group. Although she has broken the glass ceiling by being named the first woman to assume command of the Fort Leonard Wood Training Installation in Missouri, she doesn't consider herself a trailblazer. Hence the quote above. She wants other women who desire a career in the military to see her as a model of the opportunities and possibilities that are available to them.

In August 2018, Martin was promoted from Brigadier General (One Star) to Major General (Two Star) in a ceremony at Fort Leonard Wood. The Army training base includes engineering, chemical and military police specialities and the General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital, a facility that will be replaced by a new $100 million modern hospital in the next few years. Major General Martin will oversee the new hospital project as part of her command duties. The 60,000 acre Fort Leonard Wood installation welcomes over 80,000 service members each year.

Martin is one of six children born to a close knit family headed by a single mother who worked as a nursing assistant in Yorktown, Virginia. Isn't it prescient that her mother worked as a nursing assistant and now she will oversee the building of a $100 million hospital? The General began her career with the military in ROTC 30 years ago at Old Dominion University as an undergraduate. She graduated with a criminal justice degree and later received a Master's degree in Strategic Studies from the Army War College in Carlisle, PA. She rose through the the ranks of the Military Police Corps and her career has also included deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

General Martin is a model of achievement for all women especially women who are serving this country in the military. For more information on Major General Donna Martin, read "First Female Commander at Fort Leonard Wants Women To Know What's Possible For Them In The Military" by the St. Louis Dispatch. Click @LeadershipTues to follow #LeadershipTuesdays on Twitter. There you'll find resources to help you develop your leadership skills and learn from others who are successful leaders.