{{Short description|Major General in United States army reserve}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox military person | name = Laura Yeager | image = Laura L. Yeager (4).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Laura Yeager in 2019 | birth_name = Laura L. Brandt | nickname = | birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|53|2017|10|1}}<ref name="Burge1">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/military/ft-bliss/2017/10/01/first-woman-takes-command-joint-task-force-north-fort-bliss/721036001/|title=First woman takes command at Joint Task Force North at Fort Bliss|last=Burge|first=David|date=October 1, 2017|work=USA Today|publisher=El Paso Times|accessdate=June 15, 2019}}</ref> | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | burial_place = | allegiance = United States | branch = United States Army<br/>Army National Guard | service_years = 1986–2022 | rank = Major General | service_number = | unit = | commands = 40th Infantry Division<br/>Joint Task Force North<br/>3rd Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment | battles = Iraq War | awards = Defense Superior Service Medal<br/>Legion of Merit (3)<br/>Bronze Star Medal

| children = 2 | relations = Divorced | other_work = }} Major General '''Laura L. Yeager''' (née '''Brandt'''; born 1963 or 1964) is an active officer in the United States Army National Guard.<ref name = meet/> She became the commander of the National Guard's 40th Infantry Division on June 29, 2019 and served in that role until May 15, 2022.<ref name=CNN>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/29/politics/first-woman-command-us-army-infantry-trnd/index.html|title=Since 1917, this US Army infantry division was led by men. A woman is now taking charge|last=Jackson|first=Amanda|date=June 29, 2019|publisher=CNN|accessdate=June 30, 2019}}</ref><ref name=langhorne2>{{cite news |last= Langhorne |first= Daniel |date= May 20, 2022 |title= Two-star general with O.C. roots retires after breaking Army's glass ceiling |url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2022-05-20/two-star-general-with-o-c-roots-retires-after-breaking-armys-glass-ceiling |work= Los Angeles Times |access-date= May 22, 2022 }}</ref> She is the first woman to command a United States Army infantry division.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/first-woman-to-lead-us-army-infantry-division|title=Brig. Gen. Laura Yeager to become first woman to lead US Army infantry division|last=Norman|first=Greg|date=June 10, 2019|work=Fox News|accessdate=June 15, 2019}}</ref><ref name=langhorne>{{cite news |last= Langhorne |first= Daniel |date= June 29, 2019 |title= Fountain Valley native Laura Yeager first woman to lead U.S. Army Infantry Division |url= https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/tn-dpt-me-laura-yeager-army-infantry-ceremony-20190629-story.html |work= Los Angeles Times |access-date= July 29, 2019 }}</ref>

==Early life and education== Yeager grew up in Fountain Valley, California. Her father, Robert Brandt, is a retired army major general and a veteran of the Vietnam War.<ref name = stars/> She attended California State University, Long Beach, where she joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps to help pay for her college education. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California, Irvine, and two master's degrees, one in marriage and family therapy from Chapman University and one in strategic studies from the United States Army War College.<ref name = "Burge1"/>

==Military career== Yeager was commissioned a second lieutenant on May 30, 1986,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-first-woman-army-infantry-california-20190611-story.html|title=For the first time in history, a woman will lead a U.S. Army infantry division|last=Shalby|first=Colleen|date=June 11, 2019|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2019-06-16}}</ref> after which she completed the Army Medical Department's Officer Basic Course. Her first appointment was as a platoon leader with the 423rd Medical Company.<ref name=guard/> She completed training as a military helicopter pilot in 1989. She then flew Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as an aeromedical evacuation pilot. After eight years, she left active duty as a captain when her first son was born. She joined the Army Reserve and later resumed her active military career in the California Army National Guard.<ref name="Bacon">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/06/09/first-female-brig-gen-laura-yeager-lead-army-infantry-division/1401950001/|title=Meet Brig. Gen. Laura Yeager, first woman to lead Army infantry division|last=Bacon|first=John|date=June 9, 2019|work=USA Today|accessdate=June 15, 2019}}</ref>

thumb|upright|Colonel Laura Yeager, 2011 Yeager was promoted to major in December 1998, lieutenant colonel in 2004, and colonel in 2011.<ref name=guard>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalguard.mil/portals/31/Features/ngbgomo/bio/2/2928.html |title=Brigadier General Laura L. Yeager |publisher=Department of Defense, National Guard Bureau |accessdate=June 16, 2019 }}</ref> After several staff appointments, she commanded 3rd Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment, at Stockton, California, between 2006 and 2008.<ref name=guard/> In 2010–11, she saw service in Iraq as the deputy commander of the Guard's 40th Combat Aviation Brigade,<ref name="Burge1"/> based in Taji.<ref name=guard/> On March 8, 2016, she was promoted to brigadier general. In 2017, she became Commander, Joint Task Force North, part of United States Northern Command, at Fort Bliss, Texas—the first woman in that position.<ref name="Burge1"/>

Yeager was promoted to major general on June 29, 2019 and assumed command of the Guard's 40th Infantry Division, a force of more than 10,000 soldiers.<ref name = meet>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-laura-yeager-first-woman-to-lead-army-division-20190630-story.html|title=She just made history as the first woman to lead an Army division. Meet Maj. Gen. Laura Yeager|last=Langhorne|first=Daniel|date=June 30, 2019|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2019-06-30}}</ref> She became the first woman to command a United States Army infantry division; the change-of-command ceremony was held at the Joint Forces Training Base - Los Alamitos, California.<ref name=CNN/><ref name=langhorne/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2019/06/06/brig-gen-laura-yeager-a-fountain-valley-native-will-become-1st-female-to-lead-a-u-s-army-infantry-unit/|title=Brig. Gen. Laura Yeager, a Fountain Valley native, will become 1st female to lead a U.S. Army Infantry unit|last=Ritchie|first=Erika I.|date=June 7, 2019|work=Orange County Register|accessdate=June 15, 2019}}</ref> She relinquished command of the division to her deputy, Major General Michael J. Leeney on May 15, 2022.<ref name=langhorne2/>

Yeager's awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with two bronze oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters, and various other achievement, campaign and service medals.<ref name=guard/>

==Personal life== Yeager is married to retired Lieutenant Colonel Curtis Yeager. The surname Yeager was an anglicised orthographic transcription of the German surname Jäger (hunter) or Jaeger. They have four adult sons.<ref name = "Burge1"/> She left active duty and entered the Army Reserve when their first son was born, saying it would be difficult for them both to be on active duty at the same time. When her husband retired, Yeager took a full-time position with the California National Guard. She has commented that, "As a female, I feel like the Guard and Reserve components are such a great way to serve and yet still have some good family-life balance."<ref name = stars>{{cite news|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/us/army-s-first-woman-to-lead-an-infantry-division-wants-to-encourage-others-to-serve-1.585864|title=Army's first woman to lead an infantry division wants to encourage others to serve|last=Thayer|first=Rose L.|date=June 13, 2019|work=Stars and Stripes|accessdate=June 15, 2019}}</ref> She was a member of Grizzly Gabbers from 2015 to 2019, a Toastmasters club based in Sacramento and sponsored by the California National Guard.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Army Major General Laura Yeager blazes new trails in the military. |url=https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2020/jan/in-command |publisher=Toastmasters International |accessdate=14 March 2020|work=Toastmaster}}</ref>

==See also== * Ann E. Dunwoody, first woman to achieve the rank of four star general in the United States military * List of female United States military generals and flag officers * Women in the United States Army

==References== {{commons category|Laura L. Yeager}} {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaeger, Laura}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Female generals of the United States Army Category:United States Army personnel of the Iraq War Category:California National Guard personnel Category:American Senior Army Aviators Category:Women military aviators Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:Chapman University alumni Category:California State University, Long Beach, alumni Category:United States Army War College alumni Category:University of California, Irvine alumni Category:People from Fountain Valley, California Category:21st-century American women