Brigadier General Becky Halstead entered the United States Military Academy in 1977, in the second class that included women. In 2005, she became the first female Academy graduate to be promoted to General Officer rank and in 2006, she became the first female Chief of Ordnance for the US Army. She was Commanding General, 3rd Corps Support Command, US Army Europe and Seventh Army, Germany with deployment to Iraq as the Senior Commander for Logistics Operations.
Awards and decorations received by Gen. Halstead include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with oak leaf cluster), Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with five oak leaf clusters), the Army Commendation Medal (with oak leaf cluster), the Army Achievement Medal, the Air Assault Badge, and the Army Staff Badge.
Gen. Halstead is now a national spokesperson for the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. In this interview with Dr. Carl Cleveland III, she describes how chiropractic care helped her manage a severe case of fibromyalgia for which doctors had prescribed multiple medications. While under chiropractic care, she was able to eliminate all prescription medication. She also explains how she believes chiropractic care for members of the military will enhance force readiness and why it should be available to all men and women serving in the Armed Forces.
When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue a military career?
In 1976, when my mother told me that I should look at going to the United States Military Academy. I was a junior in high school.
Was that a good decision for you?
It ended up being a good decision, but when she announced that she thought I should apply, I thought it was a horrible decision because I wanted to be a gym teacher and a gym coach, and to minor in music, at Ithaca College. So I thought my mother was crazy, quite honestly, but I listened to my mom and she helped me write all the letters. And when I got accepted, I felt that I had an obligation to go. In the end, it was absolutely my niche. I think my mom saw my true potential and I’m very grateful to her for that.
Would you recommend that other women consider a career in the military?
I recommend that anybody, male or female, who wants to serve their nation should absolutely look at the military, whether it’s to enlist, to go to the Academy or the ROTC program. It takes a unique person. You have to really want to be in the military. Otherwise, it would be a very difficult career to be in. But yes, I’d strongly recommend it.
As one of the first women to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy and the first to become a general, did you realize that you were truly making history for this country and for women?
I think that at the point when I made General Officer, it was very apparent that I was making history. I tried not to focus on that while I was coming up through the ranks. People would say, when I was very young, “You’re going to be a General Officer some day.” I would hear it and kind of let it go off to the side, because for me it was very important to perform in the job I was in and the rank I was in. I would allow myself to envision one rank out and two jobs out. I think it is important to look forward. But I did not sit around and dream of being a general.
Actually, when I made General Officer and made history, people would come up to me and say, “I’m so glad that you realized your dream.” And I would just look at them and go, “To be honest with you, that wasn’t my dream.” It might have been your dream for me but it wasn’t my dream. At the point that I was promoted to colonel, I realized that there was a very strong possibility that I might make general. And I knew enough to know that no other woman from the Service Academies had made general yet, so it was a little exciting in the back of my mind, to think that this was a historical marker. But I didn’t allow myself to do any sort of dance until someone actually pinned the star on me. Although exciting, I remind people that ceremony lasts half an hour and the responsibility lasts a lot longer. So you enjoy the moment but then get back to work. |
