Gwendolyn A. Foster

Gwendolyn A. Foster is an U.S. Air Force brigadier general, nurse practitioner, and midwife. She is the director of staff to the surgeon general of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force and the 19th chief nurse of the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps. Foster is the first Black female on active duty to become a general officer in the United States Air Force Medical Service.

Life Foster was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois. In 1988, at age 17, Foster joined the Illinois Army National Guard and served as a field medic in the Army Guard and Reserves until her honorable discharge in 1997. She earned a B.S. in nursing from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 1995.

Promotions Brig. Gen. Foster entered the military at 17 years old, serving in the Illinois Army National Guard and the Army Reserve for eight years as a Field Medic before being honorably discharged in 1996. Afterwards, she earned her master's degree in nursing (Midwifery) and worked as a Certified Nurse-Midwife for two years before entering active duty in 2001.