The United States Department of Defense announced Tuesday the appointment of Rear Admiral Yvette M. Davids to the position of Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the United States Southern Command , based in Doral, Florida; and in this way she becomes the first Hispanic to occupy such an important position in the military ranks.
Before the appointment, the officer led the Eleventh Strike Group headed by the aircraft carrier Nimitz. Davids was also the first Hispanic woman to command a warship.
Rear Admiral Davids hails from San Antonio, Texas and graduated in 1989 from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Oceanography.
She also graduated in 2002 from the Naval War College with a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies, as well as a 2012 graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces with a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy. Davids participated in the Iraq War as an operations officer aboard ships and went on to command warships in combat.
Her decorations include the Legion of Merit (two awards), Meritorious Defense Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), Joint Praise Medal, Army Praise Medal and the Marine Corps (four awards), Medal Joint Achievement, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (two awards), as well as several campaign and unit awards.
Rear Admiral Davids in the Eleventh Strike Group.
In 2008, she received the “Las Primeras” award from the National Latin Organization as the first Hispanic woman to command a warship in the United States Navy.
Yvette Davids is married to Rear Admiral Keith B. Davids, a 1990 Naval Academy graduate and Navy SEAL officer with whom she has twins.
Rear Admiral Yvette M. Davids.
Source: radio television marti
