Posted on Jul 18, 2025
First female army officer is commissioned | July 18, 1947 | HISTORY
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In a ceremony held at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, General Dwight D. Eisenhower appoints Florence Blanchfield to be a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, making her the first woman in U.S. history to hold permanent military rank.
A member of the Army Nurse Corps since 1917, Blanchfield secured her commission following the passage of the Army-Navy Nurse Act of 1947 by Congress. Blanchfield had served as superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps during World War II and was instrumental in securing passage of the Army-Navy Nurse Act, which was advocated by Representative Frances Payne Bolton. In 1951, Blanchfield received the Florence Nightingale Award from the International Red Cross. In 1978, a U.S. Army hospital in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was named in her honor.
A member of the Army Nurse Corps since 1917, Blanchfield secured her commission following the passage of the Army-Navy Nurse Act of 1947 by Congress. Blanchfield had served as superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps during World War II and was instrumental in securing passage of the Army-Navy Nurse Act, which was advocated by Representative Frances Payne Bolton. In 1951, Blanchfield received the Florence Nightingale Award from the International Red Cross. In 1978, a U.S. Army hospital in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was named in her honor.
First female army officer is commissioned | July 18, 1947 | HISTORY
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Women in the Military
Nurse
Nursing
290x: Nurse Corps Officer
Posted 5 mo ago
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We should never forget the contributions of women to our military and nation. They are leaders on the national scene just as they usually are at home
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My aunt was a LT in the USN in the pacific theater while my father (siblings) was mostly flying with 8th Air Force, she was a nurse at the time and later in life stored all her memorabilia in a box in the back of her closet, instead of honor, she came home to disrespect. And then there’s me: I joined the military but not as a nurse. After military retirement I became a nurse, In the early days when I was first serving almost all women were nurses. It changed when the first group of women successfully completed the rigorous life at the Air Force Academy and joined me on the base,
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