--- description: The appointment comes two weeks after the Pentagon announced all combat jobs are now open to women title: West Point Appoints First Woman Commandant of Cadets image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca433ba55d9e2dbe/698875925f570f527cb1eda2/american-cadets.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # West Point Names First Woman Commandant of Cadets by [Alastair Jamieson / NBC NEWS](/author/nbc-news/) ## Alastair Jamieson / NBC NEWS Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2015 12:30 PM CUT  Silhouetted naval cadets marching in formation, low angle view Silhouetted naval cadets marching in formation, low angle viewPaul Souders—Getty Images by [Alastair Jamieson / NBC NEWS](/author/nbc-news/) ## Alastair Jamieson / NBC NEWS Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2015 12:30 PM CUT An Iraq and Afghanistan veteran has been appointed the first female commandant of cadets at West Point, the U.S. military academy said. Brig. Gen. Diana Holland will become the 76th Commandant of Cadets at a ceremony scheduled for Jan. 5, it said in a statement Tuesday. She is currently the first female general of the U.S. Army Fort Drum & 10th Mountain Division. It comes two weeks after the [Pentagon announced all combat jobs are now open to women](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pentagon-nbc-news-all-combat-roles-now-open-women-n473581 "undefined"), a historic shift in policy. [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/west-point-names-diana-holland-first-woman-commandant-cadets-n480906?cid=par-time%5F20151216 "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4151164/west-point-diana-holland-commandant-cadets/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4151164/west-point-diana-holland-commandant-cadets/"},"headline":"West Point Names First Woman Commandant of Cadets","datePublished":"2015-12-16T12:30:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:25:14.003Z","description":"The appointment comes two weeks after the Pentagon announced all combat jobs are now open to women","url":"https://time.com/4151164/west-point-diana-holland-commandant-cadets/","keywords":["Military"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca433ba55d9e2dbe/698875925f570f527cb1eda2/american-cadets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alastair Jamieson / NBC NEWS"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltca433ba55d9e2dbe/698875925f570f527cb1eda2/american-cadets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Silhouetted naval cadets marching","caption":"Silhouetted naval cadets marching in formation, low angle view","creditText":"Paul Souders—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4151164/west-point-diana-holland-commandant-cadets/","name":"West Point Names First Woman Commandant of Cadets"}}]}] ```