BRIGADIER GENERAL TAMMY S. SMITH, a 26-year veteran of the Army became the first out Lesbian officer of flag rank in the United States military on this date.

At her Arlington National Cemetery ceremony, her star was affixed to her uniform by her wife, and co-founder of the Miitary Partners and Families Coalition, TRACEY HEPNER. As a colonel, General Smith was deployed in Afghanistan from December 2010 to October 2011 as the chief of Army Reserve Affairs. She served in Washington D.C. as the deputy chief of the Army Reserve. In 2017 Smith received her confirmation to the rank of major general in July 2016, and was formally promoted to the position in a ceremony at the United States Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, Korea. She retired from the army effective April 30, 2021.