Washington, D.C. ? President Bush has nominated Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody to take over the Army’s Materiel Command as a four-star general, and if confirmed by the Senate she would be the first woman in U.S. history to receive such a high military rank.

In announcing the nomination Monday, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates praised Dunwoody’s “extraordinary leadership and devotion to duty” and called the choice “an historic occasion.” There are 57 active-duty female general officers in the U.S. armed forces, five of whom are three-star generals. About 5 percent of the Army’s general officers are women.

Dunwoody joined the Army in 1975 after graduating from the State University of New York, and she has risen to the highest ranks of the Army while focusing on logistics and support services. She has served as deputy chief of staff for logistics and last week was welcomed to Fort Belvoir as the deputy commander of the Army Materiel Command – a command she would take over from Gen. Benjamin S. Griffin if confirmed.