News Release

Heard on Campus – Major General Jessica L. Wright

April 30, 2008

Major General Jessica L. Wright has amassed an impressive list of “firsts” in her 35-year military career.

But when asked to describe herself, she replies simply “I’m a soldier.”

Gen. Wright was guest speaker April 29 at the all-campus liaison luncheon hosted by Penn State Harrisburg’s Commission for Women.

The first woman selected to serve as a state adjutant general by a U.S. governor, Gen. Wright was sworn in to her post in Pennsylvania in 2004. As Adjutant General, she is responsible for command control, and supervision of all Air and Army National Guard units allocated to the Commonwealth. She is also responsible for six state-owned veterans’ homes, Scotland School for Veterans’ Children, and programs for Pennsylvania’s 1.3 million veterans.

Among her other remarkable “firsts” are the first woman aviator in the Army National Guard and the first to qualify in medium lift (CH-47 Chinook) and heavy lift (CH-54 Skycrane) aircraft. The pinnacle of her aviation career was the command of the 28th Combat Aviation Brigade which made her the first female commander of a combat brigade in the Army. She continued to fly UH-1 Hueys as the State Army Aviation Officer unit until her selection as the Deputy Adjutant General-Army.

But her rise through the ranks from private to two-star general has not been without challenges as she advanced in what was considered – and is still considered in some areas – a man’s world. “There were naysayers,” she related to those attending the luncheon in the Morrison Gallery of the college library. “One told me I would be a failure (as an aviator).” Her list of “firsts” has silenced that criticism. And “earning the respect of her soldiers” she terms a major key to her success.

A wife and mother, the Monessen native also chuckles at “some of the stupid things men say” to her. Things like “Are you really a general?” or “You know pretty much for being a girl.” She stresses, “Anger would not have helped” in these situations, but that a “sense of humor” does.

As for her leadership style, she says it is “to get out of the office. I have an approachable management style and I get down where the soldier lives” again underscoring her self-description. And in answer to a questioner asking if more women are needed in the Army, she replies “we need great soldiers.”

For someone who was encouraged by her father to give the Army a try after she graduated from college and couldn’t land a job, Gen. Wright has no regrets. “I wouldn’t trade my job for the world,” she says with a smile.

As for females considering the military, she concluded with “Go for it! Have determination!”

Gen. Wright’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Army Service Ribbon, and Senior Army Aviation Badge.

She received her bachelor’s degree in social work from Alderson Broaddus College and her master’s degree in management from Webster University in St. Louis. She is a graduate of the Army War College Military Fellowship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., the Command and General Staff College, the Army Management Staff College, the Medical Service Corp Officer Advanced Course, the CH-47 Aviator Qualification Course, and the CH-54 Aviator Qualification Course.