West's historic promotion to be the second black female major general took place on April 19, 2013. Of her promotion, West said, "I never really thought about that part. My parents taught me to work hard and be the best I can be and things will work out. I'm just really honored. If anything at all, I hope I can be an inspiration to any one or any group that has not seen themselves in certain positions. We all want to see people who look like us doing certain things to give us inspiration. Hopefully, I can inspire someone to be able to say, 'I can do that.'" On December 11, 2015, the Senate confirmed the nomination of West to be promoted to lieutenant general and she became the 44th Army Surgeon General. This made West the Army's first black Surgeon General, as well as the Army's first black woman to hold the rank of lieutenant general and the Army's highest ranking woman who graduated from the
United States Military Academy. Lt. Gen. West was promoted on February 9, 2016, and formally assumed command of
MEDCOM on February 10, 2016. West completed her Family Medicine
internship and
residency at Martin Army Hospital. She deployed during
Operation Desert Storm and
Operation Desert Shield while assigned there. West finished her residency in
dermatology at
Fitzsimons Army Medical Center and
University of Colorado Medical Center. She was Chief, Dermatology Service at Heidelberg Army Hospital in Germany. that West has been appointed to its board of directors effective immediately. West will serve as a member of the Board's Science, Technology & Sustainability Committee, effective as of January 1, 2021. As a non-employee director of the company, West will receive compensation as described in the "Director Compensation" section of the company's 2020 Proxy Statement. In April 2022, West was appointed to the Board of Visitors of the
United States Military Academy. ==Personal life==