HELENA — After 36 years of service, Colonel Renea Dorvall was promoted this week to the rank of Brigadier General, becoming the first woman in the Montana Army National Guard to have that title.
"We grow up in an organization, and you don't know where your careers are going to take you, and I've just been provided great opportunities to serve at multiple levels," Dorvall said.
While Dorvall has had the position for roughly a year, her new rank was held up due to Republican Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville's blockade on almost all military promotions.
The promotion from colonel to brigadier general makes Dorvall a general officer. She is also a commander and assistant adjutant general.
Dorvall oversees the 2,600 troops in the Army National Guard and plans and coordinates missions.
Adjutant General Pete Hronek had several officers in mind when making the promotion, but Dorvall stuck out.
Hronek said, "She was the one that had the experiences. The leadership skills to really bring it to the next level. And I'm so proud that she was available and she said yes and has met the challenge and exceeded all my expectations."
She says being promoted and succeeding in her life is not just because of her work.
"They're not individual achievements. They are collective achievements because people help grow us. Whether they challenge us in assignments, whether they recommend different things, mentorship that we get. It's a collective achievement," Dorvall said.
After a speech from the adjutant general, she was presented with her new flag, sworn in, and pinned by her family.
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