Lieutenant General Laura J. Richardson has become the first woman Commanding General of the United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) which is based out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Richardson will be leading a command comprising 776,000 soldiers and 96,000 civilians, according to CNN. She will succeed General Robert B. Abrams, who will be moving on to command U.S. Forces Korea.
The relinquishment of command ceremony to bid General Abrams farewell from FORSCOM was held on Tuesday (local time), before which the General had released his farewell message on FORSCOM's Twitter. The 39th Chief of Staff of the US Army, General Mark A. Milley was also present at the ceremony.
Abrams, who served as Commanding General of FORSCOM for three years, expressed how grateful he was for the sacrifices made by FORSCOM Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), soldiers, army families, and civilians.
Richardson has been serving the US forces since 1986 and was the first woman to be appointed as the deputy commanding general for the 1st Cavalry Division.