History has been made at West Point Military Academy. Simone Askew is the first black woman to be appointed as First Captain of the Corps of Cadets, the Washington Post reports.
The Virginia-born, International History major will assume her duties later this month which will continue through the upcoming school year. She steps into is the highest position in the cadet chain of command. Before being appointed to this position, Askew was already leading 1,502 cadets as the Regimental Commander of Cadet Basic Training II, according to the official U.S. Army release. Now, as the First Captain, she will oversee the performance of the 4,400-member Corps of Cadets where she will implement a class agenda and act as a liaison between the Corps at the administration.
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West Point was founded in 1802 and only first began enrolling women in 1976.
Her former high school principal described her as a "very dynamic person," and as someone who was always positive and had great energy. He went on to say that she was excellent at including others as was a collaborative leader.
In a statement, Brigadier General Steven W. Gilland, commandant of cadets said, "Simone truly exemplifies our values of Duty, Honor, Country. Her selection is a direct result of her hard work, dedication, and commitment to the Corps over the last three years. I know Simone and the rest of our incredibly talented leaders within the Class of 2018 will provide exceptional leadership to the Corps of Cadets in the upcoming academic year."
The soon-to-be senior is a member of the Army West Point Crew team and developing leaders as the Cadet-in-Charge of the Elevation Initiative. She is a recipient of the Black Engineer of the Year Award for Military Leadership, a member of the Phi Alpha Theta Honorary National History Society, a graduate of Air Assault School, an EXCEL Scholar, and holds the highest female Recondo score during Combat Field Training II for the class of 2018.
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