Monday, December 01, 2003

By Bill Toland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HARRISBURG -- She's an experienced helicopter pilot, accustomed to flying high, so maybe Brig. Gen. Jessica L. Wright's swift, pioneering ascent through the ranks of the National Guard shouldn't come as a surprise.

	Jessica L. Wright Age: 51 Residence: Annville, Lebanon County Occupation: State deputy adjutant general In the news: Nominated as adjutant general, head of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Education: Bethel Park High School; bachelor's degree from Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, W.Va.; master's degree from Webster University in St. Louis. Quote: "There was one opportunity after another" in the National Guard. Family: Married to retired Lt. Col. Charles E. Wright.

Wright, raised in Monessen and a graduate of Bethel Park High School, was named a week ago to head the Pennsylvania National Guard. She'll be promoted to adjutant general once her appointment is confirmed by the state Senate.

Whether her appointment qualifies as a surprise is debatable, but as one of only two women ever to be named adjutant general of her state's forces, Wright's status as a military trailblazer is undeniable.

Gov. Ed Rendell introduced Wright last week, noting that the appointment was historic but downplaying the significance of Wright's gender.

"Gen. Wright was chosen not because she's a woman," Rendell said. "She's a pioneer, but that pioneership is incidental. ... She was the obvious choice, period."

That's because Wright, 51, has been serving as the state's deputy adjutant general since May 2000. She'll be replacing Maj. Gen. William Lynch, who is retiring, and will become the state Guard's 50th adjutant general.

The promotion puts Wright in charge of all Air and Army National Guard units in Pennsylvania, the six state-owned veterans homes, the Scotland School for Veterans' Children and all programs for the state's 1.3 million veterans. With 20,000 enlisted guardsmen -- 16,000 in the Army, 4,000 in the Air Guard -- Pennsylvania's National Guard is the largest in the country, as well as the oldest.

Wright, whose father served in World War II, has made a career of being the "first woman": She was the first woman aviator in the Army National Guard; the first woman to qualify to pilot both medium- and heavy-lift aircraft; the first woman to command an Army combat brigade; the first woman brigadier general in the state; and, now, the state's first woman adjutant general.

"There was one opportunity after another," Wright said in trying to explain her decision to forge a career with the National Guard.

In the summer of 1975, following her graduation from Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, W.Va., with a bachelor's degree in social work, Wright began her military career as an enlistee in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. Her first responsibility was to deal with reporters -- she was a press officer with the 108th Public Information Detachment, based in Harrisburg.

Three months later, she began working in Harrisburg's recruiting and retention offices, and by 1977, she was with the 228th Aviation Company, flying CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters and UH-1 "Huey" choppers, the kind dispatched frequently during the Vietnam War.

From 1985 to 1989, Wright worked with a transportation unit in Georgia, and from 1989 until 1997, she divided her time among Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

In June 1997, she returned to her home state, working out of a National Guard command center in Annville, Lebanon County. She hasn't flown a helicopter in three years, since she was appointed by then-Gov. Tom Ridge as assistant adjutant general.

Wright, who holds a master's degree in management from Webster University in St. Louis, said she hopes to maintain Pennsylvania's impressive recruitment and retention record while she's at the helm. She also wants to modernize Pennsylvania's fleet of aircraft, she said.

The adjutant general's office operates under the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Wright will make $104,000 a year at her new post. Legislators said that they foresaw no obstacles to her confirmation.

Vermont Air National Guard Lt. Col. Martha T. Rainville is the only other woman in the history of the National Guard to be named state adjutant general.

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