California National Guard member first Hispanic female general officer

California National Guard courtesy report

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Army Brig. Gen. Sylvia Crockett is the first Latina general officer in the California National Guard after being promoted to the rank of brigadier general in a ceremony at the state capitol in here Wednesday.

“With the amount of Hispanic people in California, it’s a great opportunity to serve in a position that in many ways will serve as an example for many young women and men in the Latino or Latina community to realize that they too can reach the top,” Crockett, who serves as director of strategic communications for the state’s Military Department.

 

“Her example of breaking the glass ceiling, not only for Latinas but for women in general, I think she’s a great role model,” said state Sen. Lou Correa. “I’m going to talk to my daughter who’s 12 years old about this great woman.”

Crockett’s promotion coincided with Women’s History Month, a tradition with origins in Sonoma, Calif., which observed the nation’s first Women’s History Week in March 1978. The annual March celebration raises awareness of the importance of equality and diversity in the United States.

“[This position] takes a lot of skill, which you have and we recognize that,” said Gov. Edmund Brown Jr., who was the ceremony host. 

Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, the adjutant general of the California National Guard, has expressed his commitment to ensuring the National Guard increasingly reflects the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the state it serves, both in its leadership and across its ranks.

“We are putting her into a very, very prominent position in her full-time capacity, where she is going to take over for us all of our strategic communications, which includes the Public Affairs Directorate, our state legislation, working with our friends in the state Senate and Assembly and of course working with our enormous California congressional delegation,” said Baldwin.

Baldwin said Crockett will also be helping to reshape the future force structure of the National Guard and addressing Soldier, Airman, civilian and family care issues.