When Col. Laura Richardson took command of U.S. Army Operational Test Command July 21 she became the first female commander in OTC’s history.

It’s just the latest assignment in a military career of prestigious duties, which have included former Vice President Al Gore’s military aide and the commander of 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment at Fort

Campbell, Ky.

Richardson said her path into the military started with her parents, specifically her father.

“He’s very patriotic,” she said with a smile.

Although he ultimately encouraged her to take part in ROTC in college, he started in childhood by encouraging his oldest daughter to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities.

“I grew up with a chin-up bar on my doorway,” she added. Her parents discovered she was a natural swimmer and throughout childhood she traveled around the U.S., taking part in large swim meets and high-level competition.

As she grew up, she decided to follow in her parent’s footsteps, by taking to the skies.

“I actually started flying lessons, working on my private pilot’s license when I was 15,” Richardson said. Both her parents flew small planes in their younger days. Her love of flying was born and would eventually translate into a career as a helicopter pilot in the Army.

In college, her father encouraged her to take part in the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Colorado.

Colonel Laura Richardson, OTC commander addresses the audience at the OTC Hall of Fame induction Aug. 18.   Rachel Parks, Sentinel Staff

“I didn’t know what to think about it,” she admitted. “I didn’t know what this ROTC thing was. When I first went I told him when I got back, ‘I’m not going there again.’” But her father was persuasive and persistent that quitting wasn’t an option, and she did end up returning and spending a year as an Air Force ROTC cadet. But the fit didn’t seem quite right, so she said she decided to make a change.

“I started calling around to the Navy and the Marines and the Army, and then I found out about the flight program in the Army … so I switched over to Army ROTC.”

After her graduation from Metropolitan State College in Denver, she was commissioned as a second lieutenant aviation officer. It was at Fort Rucker, Ala., early in her aviation career, when Richardson met her husband, a fellow helicopter pilot. Brigadier Gen. Jim Richardson now serves as the 1st Cavalry Division’s deputy commander for support.

Early in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the couple was deployed at the same time. By that time, one of Richardson’s sisters and her brother were also Army officers.

“We were all deployed, including my husband,” she related. “So my brother, my sister, my husband and I were all deployed on the initial assault to Iraq.” On March 23, 2003, Laura was featured on the cover of Time magazine in a story that brought the reality of a dual-military couple to life for American readers.

Still, despite all her achievements and success, she is humbled about her accomplishments. She said she doesn’t see herself as a female Soldier who has broken down barriers, just as a leader doing her job.

“You have a job to do and you just want to do a good job,” she said.

“I’m more worried about figuring out what we have to do and where we have to go than the fact that I’m the only woman in the room,” she added with a laugh.

Throughout her rise through the military ranks, she has worked closely with her husband and credits him as an excellent teacher and support system.

“I’ve learned a lot from him. He would go into jobs … I learned an awful lot from watching him go into things first,” she said.

Richardson added that even she looks back on her illustrious career with a sense of awe sometimes. “If someone would have said, ‘you’re going to do this, this and this in your career in the Army,’ I would have said ‘no way.’” And although she considers her time as the vice president’s military aide the toughest job she’s faced, her favorite assignments continue to be her time in command.

“Of all the jobs I’ve gotten to do, the most honorable and most rewarding are the command positions,” she said. “The Army has the faith, trust and confidence to let you lead its sons and daughters, into combat if necessary.”

In her latest command position, at the helm of OTC, Richardson has high hopes for the future. She said she’s still only a month into the job and still assessing the organization and learning all the moving pieces.

“You have to be relevant to the Army, what’s going on with the Army,” she said. “You have to be responsive. There’s a lot going on with the war fight. There are a lot of things that we test for the war fight. I’m just excited to be here.”

As for her path through the Army, Richardson said she would never have imagined where it would lead when she started in ROTC, and what an impact she would have on the women who came after her.

“You would never think you could do a lot of those things in the Army. The opportunities are out there. If I could have picked … what I could have done, I would not have done a good job compared to what the Army has challenged me with.”