Faculty, Advisory Committee

Rebecca “Becky” Halstead, MS

Brigadier General (Retired, U.S. Army); First Woman Graduate of West Point to be Promoted to General Officer
U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1981
Areas of Expertise

Strategic level leadership, global supply chain management, risk management, coaching, and mentoring

As a globally ranked Top 20 Leadership Training Company, Thayer Leadership builds leaders of character and values-based organizations for the world. Our proprietary leadership model, assessment, and blended learning approach draw inspiration from the U.S. Army’s proven method for developing values-based, agile, and resilient leaders.
Experience

Becky is a 1981 graduate of the United States Military Academy and achieved an historic milestone as the first woman graduate of West Point to be promoted to General Officer. She was the senior Commanding General (equivalent to CEO) for logistics in Iraq, and was the first woman in U.S. history to command in combat at the strategic level. In this capacity, she was responsible for leading over 200 multi‐disciplined units (20,000 military and 5,000 civilians) located across 55 different bases, providing supply, maintenance, transportation and distribution support to over 250,000 personnel serving in Iraq.

Becky served in Europe as the Deputy Commanding General for the 21st Theater Support Command and has experience leading a multi-national team in wholesale level logistics operations. Prior to Europe, she served as the Chief Advisor to the Combatant Commander (Four Star General) for Southern Command, whose responsibility encompassed military training and operations for South America. She was also responsible for coordinating directly with high‐level organizations such as Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of State, U.S. Congress, U.S. Ambassadors and equivalent foreign military and civilian organizations.

The culmination of Becky’s Army career came in 2006 when she became the first woman Chief of Ordnance and Commanding General of the Army’s Ordnance Center and Schools (equivalent to President of a University), responsible for the leader development and institutional training for the second largest branch in the army with over 100,000 members of the Ordnance Corps.

Education
  • Honorary PhD degree, Doctor of Military Science, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA
  • MS, National Resource Strategy (Advanced Manufacturing) Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington DC
  • MS, Advanced Military Studies, Army Command & General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS
  • BS, Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY
Publications/Awards
  • Becky is a recipient of the 2023 Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame, the 2022 Distinguished Graduate from the West Point Association of Graduates, the 2021 National Women’s Hall of Fame, and the 2007 National Women’s History Project award for “Generations of Women Moving History Forward.” From 2009 to 2010, Becky was selected to serve as a Commissioner for the Presidential Commission on Military Leadership Diversity. She is the subject of the Harvard Business Case Leadership Study ‘STEADFAST Leadership’, and is the author of “24/7: The First Person You Must Lead is You!”
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