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Air Force’s most senior woman to retire

The Air Force’s most senior female officer is retiring.

Lt. Gen. Terry Gabreski, 57, will leave her post as vice commander of Air Force Materiel Command on Nov. 20, the command announced Sept. 18.

Gabreski was commissioned in 1974 through Officer Training School after earning a bachelor’s degree in history from Louisiana State University. Rising through the ranks as a maintenance officer, Gabreski served as logistics director for U.S. Air Forces in Europe during the Kosovo air campaign and in the same position at Air Force Materiel Command. Prior to becoming AFMC vice commander in 2005, she led Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Okla.

When Gabreski was commissioned, the role of women in the service was limited. Women weren’t allowed to attend the Air Force Academy or pilot aircraft.

In 1976, Gabreski, then a second lieutenant, was among a dozen female officers selected to serve as “air training officers,” shepherding the first class of women into the academy.

“It laid the groundwork for what women now do as a routine part of our Air Force mission,” Gabreski said at a 2008 reunion of the women.

Today, women serve in all Air Force career fields, except for a handful of ground combat positions. However, no female officer has attained the rank of four-star general.

With Gabreski’s retirement, Maj. Gen. Polly Peyer will be the service’s most senior woman officer, according to the Air Force. Peyer leads the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia.

Like Gabreski, Peyer is a maintenance officer. She began her Air Force career in 1975 as an enlisted airman and earned a commission through Officer Training School in 1977.