Margaret W. Burcham





Margaret W. Burcham is the first female brigadier-general in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Career
Margaret W. Burcham attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned from there into the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in 1982. She holds a masters degree in computer science from Kansas State University and is married to Jay Burcham. Burcham attended the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses and also studied at the Combined Arms Services Staff School, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, the Senior Service College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Burcham has been chief of the Joint Capabilities Division of the Resources, Assessments and Force Management Directorate at the Pentagon and commander of the USACE North Engineer District in Iraq and the Europe Engineer District. She was appointed commander of the USACE Great Lakes and Ohio River Division in September 2011, the first woman to command a USACE division. In this role, Burcham commanded 4,800 personnel in seven engineering districts covering 17 states and including the waters within the Great Lakes and Ohio River basins. Her annual budget was $2 billion and the division's responsibilities included the maintenance of navigational aids, flood defense projects, water conservation schemes, hydro-electric power and environmental restoration projects of an asset value of over $80 billion. She was promoted to brigadier-general on 27 January 2012 at the USACE headquarters in Washington and became the first female general of the USACE. Burcham was appointed Director of Manpower and Personnel for the Joint Chiefs of Staff by June 2015.