Assembly Member Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) named the Commander of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot’s (MCRD), Brigadier General Angela Salinas, as the 76th Assembly District’s “Woman of the Year”.

“She demonstrates how far women, and for that matter Latina women, have come in all facets of American society,” Saldaña said. “When my father trained at MCRD 60 years ago, I don’t think anybody would have believed that a woman would one day be serving as the commander of 17,000 Marine recruits.”

Brigadier General Salinas was recognized in a ceremony on the Floor of the Assembly Monday and at events in the Capitol throughout the afternoon.

Having joined the military in 1974, Salinas’s career has been a series of firsts for women in the Marine Corps. She became the first woman in the Marine Corps to command a recruiting station, and later became the first woman to serve as combat service support ground monitor. She also was the first woman to serve as a plans and policy officer for a major combatant command, and as a recruiting district commanding officer.

When she assumed her duties in fall of 2006, Brigadier General Salinas was the first woman to serve as commander in the history of MCRD.

“If there is such a thing as a camouflage ceiling, she has definitely shredded it,” Saldaña said.

Salinas is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the depot, and for all Marine Corps recruiting west of the Mississippi.

The Assembly commemorates Women’s History Month each March with a ceremony in which legislators select an outstanding woman from their district for recognition.  To view the entire Woman of the Year ceremony, log onto the March 5th Assembly Floor Session webcast on the Cal Channel website at www.thecalchannel.com.