Hispanic female first to reach rank of FL National Guard General

Historic City News celebrates appointment of the first Hispanic female to reach the rank of General in the Florida National Guard. Colonel Valeria Gonzalez-Kerr was installed Wednesday, November 25th, at St. Francis Barracks, located at 82 Marine Street in St. Augustine.

During the 10:00 a.m. ceremony, Gonzalez-Kerr was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Her assignment will be Assistant Adjutant General – Support for Florida.

Gonzalez-Kerr currently serves as the Florida Department of Military Affairs’ State Quartermaster and the Florida National Guard’s Assistant Adjutant General – Army.

General Gonzalez-Kerr began her military career in 1984 when she was commissioned a Second Lieutenant through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. She entered into active duty in the United States Army in 1986 as a Reserve Army Quartermaster Officer.

She has served in several key positions including Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer and Assistant Battalion Supply Officer with the 3rd Support Battalion (Forward); Commander, Headquarters Detachment, 50th Supply and Service Battalion; as well as Battalion Personnel Officer, 50th Supply and Service Battalion.

Her assignments include Intelligence Officer, Language Officer and Operations Officer, 260th Military Intelligence Battalion (Linguist); Personnel Officer, 260th Military Intelligence Battalion (Linguist); Director of Personnel and Administration, 50th Area Support Group; Administrative Officer and Executive Officer, Florida National Guard Recruiting and Retention Command; Executive Officer, 260th Military Intelligence Battalion (Linguist), Assistant Chief of Staff, Joint Force Headquarters, Florida and Battalion, Commander, 927th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.

General Gonzalez-Kerr deployed as Commander of the 927th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion to Iraq in 2007. She most recently served as Commander of the Homestead-based 50th Regional Support Group and Director of Human Resources for the Florida National Guard.