COLCHESTER, Vt. — The Vermont Army National Guard on Wednesday celebrated the first woman to be promoted to brigadier general.

During a ceremony at Camp Johnson, Col. Tracey Poirier acknowledged the promotion gives her greater visibility, but said she is more interested in being available to and mentoring officers who want to reach the rank of general.

“When you start to climb up the ranks, one of the things you learn is that generals are like everybody else and we’re just trying to get the job done,” Poirier, 49, said in an interview after the ceremony.

The Barre town resident was promoted at the state level last November, but the federal approval process, which goes through the Department of Defense, Congress and the president, takes longer, explained Mikel Arcovitch, a Guard spokesperson.

The first woman to become a general in either branch of the Vermont National Guard was Martha Rainville, who served in the Air Guard and became adjutant general in 1997.

While the Vermont Army National Guard was the first in the nation to recruit women to combat roles in 2021, investigations in recent years have also documented sexual abuse and a culture within the Guard that allowed harassment, particularly of women.

Poirier, who joined the Guard in 2006, said conditions for women have improved because the Guard has created a safe space for women to report problems. “And as soon as you feel safe to report, you can start attacking the problem,” she said.

She has tried to make it safer by being a resource for women “in all of my positions,” she said. “You’re never going to stop all bad actors, but if we can make a space for victims to be able to come forward, then we’re at least one step farther.”

Poirier, who works full time as the director of the Joint Staff, overseeing all military branches, said she plans to continue those efforts and noted that she works directly with the new sexual assault prevention and response team created with federal funding.

“I don’t want to say what other women feel, but I hope they feel supported,” she said.

Poirier enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves in 1991 and has two master’s degrees in anthropology and human resource management from Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar, in addition to a bachelor’s from Norwich University. Her eight years of active duty with the Marine Corps sent her to Europe, Virginia and Hawaii.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Greg Knight, Vermont’s Adjutant General, who presided over Wednesday’s ceremony, said the leadership position does not come easily and requires a remarkable work ethic.

“She is truly a tremendous person and remarkably talented officer. Tracey has certainly earned this promotion,” he said.

Her message to women who are considering the Guard but are worried about making a long-term commitment is that there is a lot of flexibility and many paths to choose from.

“I took a break in service to raise my children in between my active duty time and ended up back in the Guard, and that is perfectly acceptable — and I still came out as a general in the end,” she said. “There are a lot of options.”