Posted on October 31, 2022
Antoinette R. Gant was promoted to the rank of brigadier general today in a traditional military ceremony at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas.
Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Randy George, conducted the promotion ceremony. Brig. Gen. Gant is the first African American female, active-duty engineer to be promoted to the rank of general officer.
She assumed command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ South Pacific Division in July 2021. Established in 1888 and headquartered in San Francisco, SPD is one of nine USACE regional commands. The region encompasses all or part of ten states with four operating districts headquartered in Albuquerque, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Francisco.
Gant is responsible for leading a workforce of more than 2,800 military and civilians, overseeing hundreds of water-resource development, military, interagency design, and construction projects valued at more than $16 billion in support of our communities, our Nation, and our warfighters.
A native of Port Gibson, Mississippi, Gant graduated from Prairie View A&M University in Texas as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering and a commission in the Engineer Regiment. She holds a Master of Science in engineer management from Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, and a Master of Science in national resource strategy from the Dwight D. Eisenhower School, National Defense University, Washington, D.C. She is also a certified Project Management Professional.
Gant has served in a variety of command and staff positions for engineering units stateside and abroad. Prior to South Pacific Division, Gant was commander of the USACE South Pacific Border District from July 2020 to June 2021. Gant previously served as the combined joint engineer for the Resolute Support and OFS headquarters, Kabul, Afghanistan, military assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Army-Civil Works, Washington, D.C., chief of operations for the engineer directorate, U.S. Army South, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, and the director for the Directorates of Public Works and Installation Support, ASG-Kuwait.
She has received several national and community awards, to include 2021 Black Engineer of the Year Conference Awards, Army Stars and Stripes Award recipient, the 2020 Women of Color Career Achievement in Government Award, the YWCA Women on the Move Award, Women of Influence in Government by Albuquerque Business First, BEYA Special Recognition Award, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., South Central Region Visionary Leader and Global Leader Awards.
