Scott native is 1st nurse with rank

In the Army Reserve, no nurse had achieved the rank of major general — until now.

Scott Township native Donna Barbisch will be honored today in Washington, D.C., for her recent promotion from brigadier general to major general.

The U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination as major general on Dec. 20. Her confirmation, along with that of Karol Kennedy, commander of the 99th Regional Support Command in Oakdale, doubled the number of female major generals in the Army Reserves, from two to four.

In all, there are 56 major generals in the Army Reserve, and Barbisch is the only nurse to achieve the rank.

"It's an honor," Barbisch said of her promotion. "I think it's been interesting to be on the forefront of change."

Barbisch enlisted in the Army while attending the Columbia Hospital School of Nursing in 1967. The idea first crossed her mind while listening at the school to a nurse who had served in World War II.

"It was fascinating to me," she said. "I wanted to get involved in helping in a larger global environment."

Two years after enlisting, the then-second lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps went to Vietnam, serving in the 91st Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai.

Barbisch called her year in Vietnam one of the greatest learning experiences in her life.

"It made you grow up pretty fast," she said. "There's a certain distance when you are involved in that kind of environment. You have to put your emotions on a shelf and deal with some pretty (difficult) situations, and learning to deal with that and learning to sort things out … certainly changed my perspective on what's important.

"The military provides a lot of experiences … that help you grow," Barbisch said. "It just exposes you to a whole different world. I think it would be helpful to everyone to look through a different set of glasses."

She has also served as commander of the 350th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Greenville, N.C.

For the past six years, Barbisch has been an anti-terrorism expert, and is the chief executive officer of Global Deterrence Alternatives, a planning organization to develop policy, planning and solutions to the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

Currently, Barbisch also is the military assistant to the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs in Washington, D.C.

"In that capacity, I serve as an adviser to (the assistant secretary) in multiple areas of interest to the Army and other duties as assigned," she said. "I do assist in the knowledge base on homeland security."

Sept. 11 brought a new recognition to her and other anti-terrorism experts' efforts, Barbisch said. While many people have wondered how such terrorist attacks could happen on U.S. soil, she and her colleagues have been preparing for terrorism for years.

"We were hoping it wouldn't happen until we were better prepared," she said. Barbisch did say that, overall, she felt the country's response to the attacks was good.

"The response of the country as a whole was just phenomenal. We have a great deal of capability."

Barbisch's mother, Jean Feigley, said she and her other children plan to travel from Scott to Washington, D.C., for the ceremony this afternoon.

"I pinned her when she became brigadier general," Feigley said. "I'm certainly going to be there for the second one."