Terry Gabreski Terry Lee ( Walter ) Gabreski was the second woman to hold the rank of Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force ( USAF ) . She was the Vice Commander , Air Force Materiel Command , Wright - Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio , which conducts research , development , test and evaluation , and provides acquisition management and logistics support necessary to keep Air Force weapon systems ready for war . She is the daughter of retired Air Force Brigadier General Alonzo Walter and the daughter - in - law of World War II and Korean War fighter ace Colonel Gabby Gabreski . She was the U . S . Air Force ' s highest - ranking active duty woman until retiring on 1 January 2010 , succeeded by Lt . Gen . Janet C . Wolfenbarger . Education and personal . Gabreski was born Terry Lee Walter in 1952 , the daughter of United States Air Force Brigadier General Alonzo J . Walter , Jr . , then a test pilot , and Doris Walter , who had also been a commissioned officer . After completing her Bachelor of Arts degree in history at Louisiana State University , where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta , Gabreski joined the USAF , attended Air Force Officer Training School , and was commissioned a second lieutenant on 10 September 1974 . She later received a Master of Public Administration degree from Golden Gate University in 1978 . Gabreski also attended the Executive Program for Senior Officials in National Security which was conducted in 1994 by the John F . Kennedy School of Government , Harvard University , Cambridge , Mass and the General Manager Program , Harvard Business School , Cambridge , Mass in 2002 . In 1983 she was selected as the USAF Aircraft Maintenance Company Grade Officer of the Year and was awarded the Eugene M . Zuckert Management Award in 1999 as recognition for her top - level Air Force management skills . In 1989 she married USAF Lt . Col . Donald Francis Gabreski , son of World war II and Korean War ace , Col . Francis S . Gabreski , and they had two sons , born in 1993 and 1995 after she had attained the rank of colonel . On her retirement Gabreski noted that she applied three times for pilot training but had been turned down each time because being only five feet tall , she could not meet minimum height requirements for the T - 38 Talon trainer . Assignments . Prior to her final assignment , General Gabreski also served as commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base ( December 2003 - August 2005 ) , which was the first Air Force installation to implement National Security Personnel System ( NSPS ) , as Director of Logistics , Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command , Wright - Patterson AFB , Ohio ( August 2001 - December 2003 ) and as Director of Maintenance for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Installations and Logistics at Headquarters U . S . Air Force ( January 2000 - August 2001 ) . Other than these assignments she directed two aircraft maintenance units , served as a squadron maintenance supervisor in three units , commanded three maintenance squadrons and a logistics group and served at the Air Staff , Secretary of the Air Force and Joint Staff levels . Gen . Gabreski also served as one of the original female Air Training Officers charged with mentoring the first female cadets of the U . S . Air Force Academy . Then - Lt . Gabreski served in this role from January 1976 to September 1977 for the Class of 1980 female cadets . Operational activities and achievements . During Operation Allied Force in the 1999 air war against Yugoslavia , General Gabreski directed logistics efforts as the A - 4 for the air war across the entire theater . Prior to her position as Vice Commander of AFMC , she was Commander of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center , Tinker AFB , Okla . She holds a master aircraft maintenance badge and a basic parachute rating .