The Kansas Senate has confirmed Col. Deborah Rose as brigadier general in the Kansas Air National Guard.

Rose, of Overbrook, is the first woman to become a general in the Kansas National Guard, officials said.

“Col. Rose’s professionalism and commitment to duty are models for all Kansas Guardsmen,” said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general.

Rose will be promoted in April to director of the Joint Forces Headquarters Kansas, Kansas National Guard. She serves as vice commander of the 190th Air Refueling Wing at Forbes Field in Topeka.

“I am greatly honored to have this opportunity and I look forward to working closely with Gen. Bunting and the Joint Forces Headquarters staff,” Rose said.

Rose also made history in April 2002 when she was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of colonel in the Kansas National Guard.