SALUTE to Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock who was recently minted the Marine Corps’ highest-ranking Black female in the military branch’s 247-year history.
President Joe Biden nominated her for the promotion in early December and was confirmed by the Senate December 15. The Jamaican-born commander will become the first Black woman to serve as a two-star general and is currently serving at Fort Meades’ National Security Agency, where she is the deputy director of cybersecurity for combat support.
In 2018, the Marquette University alumna made history when she became the first Black woman to achieve the one-star rank of brigadier general and served as the Marine Corps first Black woman chief information officer.
The U.S. military has made strides in recent years to create a more diverse and inclusive force, but women still only make up 27% of the force. In 2015, the Marines lifted its ban on women fighting in combat.
“I’ve seen that barrier lifted in my career,” Mahlock told her alma mater. “We’ve got women flying strike aircraft, women in the infantry and artillery and tanks…Regardless of where you’re from or your color, gender or ethnicity, we’re just trying to figure out how to build the best fighting force.”
Matlock migrated from Jamaica to Brooklyn, NY at the age of 17 and enlisted in the Marine Corps just three months later where she served as an air traffic controller. Her rise to the top of the ranks came after obtaining her commission through the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program in 1991. She would later graduate from Marquette with a degree in broadcast journalism. She also holds a graduate degree
in adult and higher education from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s degree in military strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.
“I went to an all-girls Catholic school in the Caribbean, and then coming to the Jesuit construct was very helpful to me,” Mahlock said. “The professors at the NROTC unit at Marquette really embraced the idea that in order to make folks better, you had to know their story, meet them where they were and help them on the journey.”
Congratulations Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock!
