Mary Willis (US Army officer)

After her retirement from the US military, Willis worked at the National Guard Association in Washington, D.C. After living in Alexandria, Virginia, Willis moved back to Maryland's Eastern Shore in 1995, working at Salisbury State University. She also received a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the university that year.

From 1989 to 1991, Willis was assigned in Germany during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. She commanded the Personnel command, two steps from the battalion. Her command ran the military jail in Europe, the postal system, and all the casualty reporting. She also served as the US Army’s liaison with the mayors in the suburbs surrounding Heidelberg, Germany. She developed a close friendship with the mayor of Schwetzingen and his wife. In March 1990, Willis attended general officer orientation in Berlin.

On September 30, 1988, Willis was recommended for promotion to brigadier general.

Between 1979 and 1981, Willis served two assignments in Europe. Now a Lieutenant Colonel, Willis commanded a personnel and administration battalion located in Kaiserslautern with satellite offices in Manheim, Heidelberg, and Pirmasens, Frankfurt, and Bremerhaven. Her subordinates operated from the French border to the Danish border.

The first female US Army Officer administrator at West Point, Willis was instrumental in the integration of women cadets at West Point in Summer 1976, overseeing three classes from 1976 to 1979. She has also been an advocate in the integration and fair treatment of women across all ranks of the US Army.

In January 1976, the US Army assigned Willis to West Point where she served as an advisor to Superintendent Andrew Goodpaster to help West Point integrate women as cadets. In Summer 1976, West Point admitted its first women for the Class of 1980. Willis remained at West Point until Summer 1979 and helped integrate three classes of women during her tenure there.

After graduating in June 1974, Willis was assigned to Fort McClellan, Alabama, where she served as a battalion executive officer for 18 months.

Willis worked at the Office of Personnel Operations until July 1973. In July 1973, The US Army selected Willis to attend United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for one year.

After her assignment in Korea, the US Army sent Willis to Chicago, Illinois where she worked as a recruiter for the US Army Recruiting Command for the next 20 months. From December 1967 to December 1968, Willis recruited women college graduates from midwestern colleges and Universities to join the US Army. She lived in Chicago during the civil unrest after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968 and the assassination of Robert Kennedy in June 1968 at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Her mother lived with Willis in Chicago and other assignments until passing away in 1998.

Despite wanting an assignment in Vietnam, Willis was assigned to Korea in January 1966 where she was assigned outside Seoul, Korea to the 20th General Support group in Incheon for 14 months.

A native of Maryland, Willis joined the Army in 1963 and served in Virginia, Korea, Chicago, and Alabama before West Point, followed by two assignments in Germany and one at the Pentagon until her military retirement in 1993. She has subsequently worked in Washington, D.C. and for her alma mater in Maryland's Eastern Shore.

In Summer 1963, Willis applied to various branches of the US military as a commissioned officer. In September 1963, Willis joined the US Army on active duty.

In 1957, Willis graduated from Wicomico High School. In 1959, she graduated from St. Mary's Seminary College. In May 1962, Willis graduated from Salisbury State Teacher's College (now Salisbury University). Willis became a 2nd grade teacher for the Wicomico County Public Schools, at North Salisbury Elementary School.

Her older brother joined the US Army after graduating from high school in 1955.

Mary Catherine Willis (born January 31, 1940) is a retired US Army brigadier general.

Willis was born on January 31, 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland At age 8, Willis and her family moved to Harford County, Maryland. At age 13, Willis and her family moved to Salisbury, Maryland in Maryland's Eastern Shore.