BALTIMORE — Gov. Wes Moore announced Thursday that he has named Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead as adjutant general of the Maryland National Guard.
If shown in the Senate, Birckhead would be the only black woman to lead a state army in the United States, according to Maryland state staff.
Birckhead is most recently the commander of the Maryland Army’s National Guard, according to state officials.
It oversees 4,600 troops, 1,500 types of combat weapons and ensures the Maryland National Guard is fit to act, state officials said.
Birckhead, former Gov. Larry Hogan, head of the COVID-19 equity task force across the state of Maryland, according to state officials. It has helped identify more than 11 mass vaccination sites.
It was able to mobilize more than 1,500 troops and interact with them in COVID-19 efforts in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, state officials said.
During the current stage of COVID-19, it evolved and incorporated a plan development team with the Maryland Department of Health for vaccine distribution, allowing aid groups to supply approximately 5,000 vaccine shots during the first two weeks of January 2021, according to state officials.
“I am proud to appoint Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead as Maryland’s next adjutant general,” Moore said Wednesday. The adjutant general is the head of the Maryland Army and I am very confident in Janeen’s ability to do just that: lead. His record shows that he is fit to serve in the highest-ranking military post in the state of Maryland. I urge the Senate to verify Brigadier General Birckhead without delay.