US Senate confirmed first woman to lead Southern Command

The US Senate confirmed the Lieutenant General on Wednesday Laura Richardson at the head of the southern command of the country’s armed forces, becoming the first woman to reach this position.

The Senate gave the green light this morning to Appointment and promotion of Richardson, 57, to the rank of four-star general, while the former Latino congressman has also been confirmed Gil Cisneros as Under Secretary of Defense for personnel and preparation issues.

The Southern Command, known by its acronym in English, Southcom is the unit in charge of US military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Richardson’s appointment to the post was announced by US President Joe Biden on March 8 during a White House ceremony on International Women’s Day.

Upon ratification, Richardson becomes second woman to lead a combat commando in U.S. history, after the general withdrawal Lori Robinson, who led the Northern Command between 2016 and 2018.

Along with the appointment of Richardson, On March 8, Biden announced his candidate to head the transport command, General Jacqueline Van Ovost, this has not yet been confirmed by the upper house.

According to the newspaper The New York Times, the Pentagon had given the green light to the appointments of Richardson and Van Ovost for monthsBut she decided to wait until after last November’s election, which Biden won, because she feared then-President Donald Trump would veto her nominations because they were women.

Richardson has so far served as the United States Army Northern Training Commander, based out of Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, and the first woman to hold the position.

With your confirmation, will lead more than 1,200 soldiers and civilians who make up the Southern Command, based in Doral, Florida.

Managed since 2018 by the Admiral Craig faller, the Southern Command has increased its military presence on the coasts of Latin America to fight drug trafficking.

Richardson has been in the military for over three decades, which he joined in 1986. His dream was to be a helicopter pilot, and he started training to be one when he was 15 years old and women still did not have the right to take care of fighter planes.

Already a soldier, he flew helicopters Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and flew two combat missions, in Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition to serving as military advisor to former Vice President Al Gore (1993-2001) and carrying the nuclear case.

In 2017, Richardson became the first female deputy commander of the army’s highest command, known as Forscom, who took over as acting head at the end of 2018.

She has been married for over 30 years to another three-star lieutenant general, James Richardson, whom he met at aviation school and with whom he has a daughter and a granddaughter.

(With information from EFE)

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