Laura Richardson became Fort Hood's second female general officer ever Friday during a ceremony outside III Corps Headquarters.

Richardson's depth and variety of experience in the Army, excellent communication skills and success at the helm of the U.S. Army Operational Test Command make her "everything the Army and the nation expects and needs in a general officer," said III Corps and Fort Hood commander Lt. Gen. Donald M. Campbell Jr. after helping Richardson change her colonel's insignias to those of a one-star general.

The ceremony also marked the addition of a second Brig. Gen. Richardson to Fort Hood; Richardson's husband, Brig. Gen. James Richardson, is the 1st Cavalry Division's deputy commander for support.

Currently deployed to Afghanistan, he watched live video of the ceremony from Regional Command-East, where he has been since last summer.

Richardson thanked her husband of 25 years, who, at four years her senior, has at times outranked her and set an example to follow — and exceed.

"I knew he would be the competition for me to beat," she said, joking that she would send soldiers to dirty the floors of his battalion headquarters when they were both battalion commanders with the 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, at Fort Campbell, Ky.

She called her husband a true "warrior and exceptional father and husband," and called her daughter, Lauren, a recent college graduate, her "principal achievement in life."

Richardson said she was especially proud of her daughter's ability to find her own voice in a "type-A" household.

Richardson grew up in Colorado and attended Metropolitan State College in Denver before becoming an Army aviation officer. Several of her siblings also served in the military. James Richardson's father is a retired Coast Guard brigadier general.

In an interview Thursday, Richardson said being a female in the military has become easier during her 25 years of service. For example, she said, she had to requalify to re-enter the service after the birth of her daughter in 1988, a barrier that doesn't exist for serving moms today.

"In a lot of ways, we've come a long way in a short period of time," she said.

In an email, James Richardson said he was proud of his wife's accomplishments, and called her "the rock of our family."

"Throughout the years, she is the person who is always there for me," he said. "Professionally, she is a great officer and phenomenal leader. Personally, she is the best wife and mother anyone could ask for."

Fort Hood's last female general officer was Maj. Gen. Jeanette K. Edmunds, who took command of the 64th Corps Support Group in 1995, according to III Corps.

Richardson is one of 29 currently serving female general officers in the Army, of 423 total, according to III Corps.

Richardson's past jobs include Army Senate liaison officer and garrison commander of Fort Myer, Va., and Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. She led the 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, an assault helicopter battalion, into battle in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and served as a military aide to former Vice President Al Gore, carrying the briefcase with the nation's nuclear launch codes.

"Only the best are entrusted with the so-called nuclear football," Gore said of Richardson in a 2003 Time magazine story about her family. Richardson appeared on the cover with the words "When mom goes to war."

Pete Laky, a senior operations officer at the U.S. Army Operational Test Command, which tests the quality and performance of defense-related equipment on behalf of the Army, said Richardson's communication skills, careful planning and natural intelligence make her a great fit for the job and great leader.

Because the equipment tested can cost up to $1 billion, he said, "There's a lot at stake in our outcomes."

But nothing is more important to Richardson than the soldiers she's testing for, said Laky. "She makes it very clear that we're going to do honest testing and tell the truth like it is."