Brig. Gen. Janet E. A. Hicks became the first woman to command Fort Gordon, Georgia, in a formal change-of-command ceremony.
On August 7, 2002, Brigadier General Janet E. A. Hicks took command of Fort Gordon, Georgia, becoming the first woman in the installation's history to hold the post of commanding general. The change-of-command ceremony, a formal military tradition marking the transfer of authority and responsibility, symbolized a significant shift for a base long associated with the U.S. Army Signal Corps and later cyber and communications training missions.
Fort Gordon, established in 1917 and named for Confederate General John B. Gordon, had never before been led by a woman in its more than eight decades of operation. Hicks's appointment reflected the gradual, hard-won integration of women into senior command roles within the U.S. Army, a process that had accelerated only in the preceding two decades as policy changes opened more command positions to female officers.
Contemporary reporting, including coverage in the Augusta Chronicle, described the ceremony as a milestone moment for the post and the surrounding Augusta, Georgia community. Her command at Fort Gordon would later expand in scope as she assumed additional responsibilities as head of the Army Signal Center, cementing her legacy as a trailblazer for women in Army leadership and technical branches historically dominated by men.