When Heidi Brown began her military career, the long-term opportunities for women in uniform were uncertain. And the Texas native wasn’t entirely sure about her future in the Army, either.

“I was going to do five years” she said Friday.

She graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1981 – part of only the second class at West Point that included women.

Since then, she has helped forge a path for women in the Air Defense Artillery, the Army branch that operates anti-aircraft weapons.

Brown’s groundbreaking career took another significant step Friday when she received a promotion to brigadier general, becoming the first female general officer in the history of I Corps and the Air Defense Artillery.

“Throughout her career, Heidi has been a pioneer, a trailblazer, a difference maker, forging her own path, creating her own destiny with skill and determination and never taking no for an answer.” said I Corps commander Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, who pinned the general’s star on Brown.

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Just received this press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Seattle:

Former Army Ranger sentences to 24 years for Tacoma bank robbery

Luke E. Sommer, 22, of Peachland, British Columbia, Canada, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 24 years in prison and 5 years of supervised release for Conspiracy to Commit Armed Bank Robbery, Armed Bank Robbery, Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence, and Possession of an Unregistered Destructive Device – Hand Grenade. Sommer was transferred in May 2008, from Canadian custody to U.S. Custody at the Peace Arch border crossing at Blaine, Washington. Sommer, who holds both U.S. and Canadian citizenship, had fled to Canada and fought extradition following the August 7, 2006, bank robbery in Tacoma, Washington. U.S. District Court Judge Franklin D. Burgess imposed the sentence agreed to in Sommer’s plea agreement saying, “You touched a lot of people here, all in a negative way.”

According to documents filed in the case, Sommer recruited two other U.S. Army Rangers, Chad Palmer and Alex Blum, and Canadian nationals, Tigra J.A. Robertson and Nathan R. Dunmall, to participate in the August 7, 2006, robbery of the Bank of America on South Tacoma Way. Sommer recruited Blum to drive the getaway car. Sommer discussed his plans at length with a sixth defendant, Scott A. Byrne, who was a “consultant” on the robbery. At a meeting the day before the robbery, Sommer provided Palmer and Dunmall with loaded fully automatic AK-47 machine guns. Sommer and Robertson carried loaded semi-automatic hand guns. The men wore soft body armor to protect themselves in case of a shoot-out with police and carried hundreds of round of extra ammunition. Sommer told Byrne and others that he wanted to use the proceeds of the robbery to start a crime family to rival the Hell’s Angels in British Columbia, Canada.

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And you thought you were getting old.

The National Guard – which traces its origins back to militias of the English colonies – turns 372 today. And you know what that means: free cake.

Swing by the storefront recruiting stations around the state today – locally you can find ’em in Lakewood and Puyallup – for a slice of birthday cake.

And if you’re interested in more history of the Guard, click below:

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