SC Guard 1st female officer to train in artillery

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s Army National Guard is sending its first female officer for training as a commander of a combat artillery unit.

Second Lt. Tracci Dorgan is able to make the move because the Pentagon is opening more combat jobs that were previously closed to women.

The 36-year-old Dorgan is a graduate of South Carolina’s Palmetto Military Academy, where many citizen-soldiers train and study for a year to become officers.

Dorgan has been in the Guard for 15 years and worked as a radio and public affairs specialist. She is preparing to go to Fort Still in Oklahoma to train as a commander of the Paladin howitzer units.

The Army began assigning female officers to lead artillery units in November of last year.