For the first time in West Point's 187-year history, the captain of the Corps of Cadets is a woman.
Kristin Baker, a self-proclaimed "Army brat" from Burke, Va., confidently marched onto the U.S. Military Academy grounds Wednesday afternoon after leading a regiment of new cadets on a 13-mile march from Lake Frederick, where they'd trained for six days.The 5-foot-4-inch, 112-pound Baker told the panting plebes to get some chow and then waded into a horde of reporters and photographers.
"Now, my first objective is `Ring Weekend,' then the first football game, then graduation on the 31st of May. Beyond that, I really don't know," she said.
Commanding a brigade of more than 4,400 cadets will be Baker's primary concern for the coming academic year.
Women, admitted as cadets since 1976, make up 10 percent of the cadets at West Point.
"The first captaincy at West Point was one of the last hurdles, if you will, that women had to cross before they were fully accepted as members of the officer corps of the Army," said Col. James Hawthorne, director of academy relations.
One of Baker's fellow cadets said her appointment might open more doors in the Army for women.
"If she does well, then I think they'll be more likely to chose a female for higher positions," said junior Lisa Buskirk.
Baker, 21, is majoring in human factors psychology - the study of the interaction between man and machines. She has not decided what she wants to do once commissioned as a second lieutenant.
"This is just a small part of what I'm going to do in the future," Baker said. "As far as what I'm going to do, whether or not I'm going to make it a career, is still to be seen."
The daughter of an Army colonel who's also a U.S. Military Academy graduate, Baker said she never felt pressured by her father to follow in his footsteps.