Major General Trish Rose. | OUTSERVE-SLDN
With her promotion to major general, the Air Force Reserve’s Patricia “Trish” Rose became the highest ranking out lesbian or gay member of the US military.
General Janet Wolfenbarger, the first woman to achieve the rank of four-star general in the Air Force, presided at the May 31 ceremony, where Rose’s wife, retired Naval officer Julie Roth, pinned her second star.
Rose has worked in aircraft maintenance and transportation under seven different commands and her Reserve assignment is with the 36th Aerial Port Squadron at McChord Air Force Base in Washington State. She serves as mobilization assistant to Wolfenbarger, in her role as commander of the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Rose and Roth were married in their home state of Washington following the legalization of marriage equality there last year.
When Rose earned her first general’s star, she asked retired Colonel Grethe Cammermeyer, who was discharged from the Washington National Guard in 1992 for acknowledging that she is a lesbian, to pin it.
In her civilian work, Rose is a marketing professional at a Seattle area hospital.
Josh Seefried, co-chair of the board of OutServe-SLDN, an advocacy group for LGBT service members, said, “I’m particularly proud of the Air Force, and of our Reserve components, for continuing to demonstrate that our diversity is our strength.”
