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Army's First Female 2* Appointed

The British Army is delighted to announce the appointment of its first ever female Major General (2-Star). In September 2015, Brigadier Susan Ridge will become Major General Susan Ridge the new Director General Army Legal Services (DGALS).
 
And? When they appoint a female to 2* to a proper job then it might mean something.
 
Can I just be the first to say,
Get that F*cking beret shaped properly!
Generally (see what I did there?) speaking, when you achieve two stars and upwards you can dress however you like; sleeves up, down, left, right, diagonal, volte-face, shirt/jacket tucked or untucked, desert boots in winter, whatever you like.

Congratulations to her, nevertheless.
 
Generally (see what I did there?) speaking, when you achieve two stars and upwards you can dress however you like; sleeves up, down, left, right, diagonal, volte-face, shirt/jacket tucked or untucked, desert boots in winter, whatever you like.

Generally speaking, there exists a cogent argument for the reinstatement of the position of Batperson for the sartorially challenged, however.

gens.jpg
 
This might be a daft question but is there any reason why a Google image search on "susan ridge director general army legal services" brings up nothing?
 
Generally (see what I did there?) speaking, when you achieve two stars and upwards you can dress however you like; sleeves up, down, left, right, diagonal, volte-face, shirt/jacket tucked or untucked, desert boots in winter, whatever you like.

Congratulations to her, nevertheless.

Not if I was her CGS she wouldn't.
 
This might be a daft question but is there any reason why a Google image search on "susan ridge director general army legal services" brings up nothing?

Same here.

I did find a link to anl old DM article about a Lt Col Susan Ruidge who prosecuted two 'run-away lovers' though.

No pictures unfortunately. Well, none that the DII firewalls deemed acceptable enough to look at anyway.
 
Same here.

I did find a link to anl old DM article about a Lt Col Susan Ruidge who prosecuted two 'run-away lovers' though.

No pictures unfortunately. Well, none that the DII firewalls deemed acceptable enough to look at anyway.

Weird isn't it.

How does Google manage to come up with this;

image.jpg
 
http://www.army.mod.uk/news/27109.aspx


The British Army is delighted to announce the appointment of its first ever female Major General (2-Star). In September 2015, Brigadier Susan Ridge will become Major General Susan Ridge the new Director General Army Legal Services (DGALS).

Currently working as Director Legal Advisory, Brigadier Ridge and her team provide legal advice to the chain of command on discipline and administrative law. Any day will see the team advising commanding officers on disciplinary matters through to dealing with service enquiries and service complaints.

Reflecting on the recent scrutiny of the Service Complaints System, the Brigadier said: “My team and I have been involved in the current System of Service Complaints and is advising the Army on the new Service Complaints System, and how we can work together to make changes for the better. This will certainly provide useful background knowledge and understanding of what is being developed for my next appointment.”

New role

The Brigadier’s new role will however cover a much wider remit. DGALS is the chief legal advisor to the Army, looking across the whole of Army Legal Services which provides legal support to the Army in barracks, on training and on operations. As the legal advisor to the Army, whoever is in the appointment of DGALS must be seen to be completely impartial. As such Brigadier Ridge can make no comment to the media on matters beyond the remit of the job.

Asked about her new job, the Brigadier said: “The Army is a constantly evolving organisation which has provided a varied and interesting legal career. It has allowed me the opportunity to develop and progress throughout my working life. I feel very honoured and privileged to have been given this opportunity.”

Chief of the General Staff (CGS) General Sir Nicholas Carter KCB CBE DSO ADC Gen, the professional head of the Army, said: “I am very pleased for Sue; she is a talented and committed officer who is widely respected throughout the Army.”

Work-life balance

“I am exceptionally lucky that my husband, also a serving officer, has been hugely supportive of my work and takes on much of the responsibility of managing family and home life, while also juggling his own career,” she explained. “There have been occasions when he has been
posted away, we have done long periods of weekend commuting and he has done tours in the Balkans and Afghanistan. But largely it has worked so well because he has been on-side.”

Army_HQ-2015-139-005_Brig_Nesmith_Comd_1_Sig_Bde_200wide.jpg
Brigadier Sharon Nesmith

Meanwhile, Brigadier Sharon Nesmith Commander of 1st (United Kingdom) Signal Brigade (1 Sig Bde), and the first female to command a Brigade, has just returned from a recce ahead of a major NATO reassurance exercise in the Baltic States due to take place in November.

Brigadier Nesmith has been in post since August last year, but her role was brought to attention last week in a speech by The Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon, at the Land Warfare Conference at the Royal United Services Institute in London. She is in charge of some 1,500 personnel who provide headquarters information and communication services, when commanders and staff from both the NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC), or the national Joint Force Headquarters, deploy on operations to a location anywhere in the world.

“The exercise later this year will see 1 Sig Bde deploy overseas in support of Headquarters ARRC, an HQ which is now certified as a NATO Joint Task Force HQ,” she explained. “We deliver a secure working environment that has the computers on their desks, the telephones, video conference facilities and the connectivity to be able to command in theatre and reach back to the UK. We do that both in support of NATO HQ ARRC and those elements within the Brigade which support national at-Readiness Contingent Capability. It's a fantastic role; there are elements of the Brigade held at extremely and very high readiness so that they can provide a presence in a theatre quickly; for Headquarters ARRC this presence can build to a large headquarters of 600 staff.”

Leadership

Back again behind her desk at 1 (UK) Sig Bde's Headquarters, co-located within HQ ARRC at Imjin Barracks, Innsworth, in Gloucestershire, Brigadier Nesmith, reflects on her leadership role

“I am the commander but I am but one part of the team and I can't do what I need to be able to deliver without them and vice versa. In a team you have a relationship where you trust each other, you have the environment you can challenge each other but you are working towards a common aim. Leadership is about strength of character and integrity, the strength of character to do what you believe is right, do what you believe in. The integrity, to be honest and trustworthy - up and down the chain of command.”

Career

Brigadier Nesmith's military career of more 20 years was inspired by an early desire for public service and a father who was a Royal Naval Reserve Officer and an older brother who joined the Army. Her pathway was set at 15 years of age with an Army Scholarship which led on to University and then Sandhurst.

“When I commissioned I think we were the first women's commissioning course that was able to choose a cap badge, prior to that it had been limited to the Women's Royal Army Corps,” she explained. “At the time I already had a very good relationship with the Royal Corps of Signals who had sponsored me from an early age, giving me some fantastic experiences of what life in the Corps would be like. The Corps always offered me the same opportunities as my male counterparts. As a young Second Lieutenant I did not imagine this is where I would be some 20 years later, it's been really challenging and I've been very fortunate with the appointments I've been given and the people I have worked with - just like my contemporaries in other brigades. I am absolutely delighted to be in command of 1 Signal Brigade, I was a commanding officer within the Brigade, and I love the Royal Signals' soldiers and other cap badges that serve under my command.”

“I’ve got a very supportive family”

The 45 year old is not only a career woman commanding 1 (UK) Sig Bde but is a married mum with two young boys and she admits it is a juggling act.

“It's a real challenge but I don't think that if you looked at any other woman who was in a like-for-like appointment in a corporate organisation she would say anything different,” she said. “There are real challenges and compromises along the way but I'm extremely fortunate I've got a very supportive family that are able to take the weight of the strain of raising a young family at those times when I am not able to. The Army also has an environment where you are invariably never doing things on your own. I have found a way to make it work but I would not want that to sound as if it is necessarily easy. But it isn't easy for my male counterparts either, so there will be many of my male friends that would feel the conflict of spending time with their family and spending time away.”

WRT Brig Ridge my bold.
 
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