Author · Speaker · West Point ’87
Some amazing women wrote the history books forgot.
Donna McAleer is the author of Porcelain on Steel: Women of West Point’s Long Gray Line — and a graduate West Point herself.
About Donna
One of the first women to graduate West Point, Donna served as an Army officer, chased an Olympic bobsled spot, ran for Congress, and leads as an executive today.
The Book
Porcelain on Steel tells the stories of the women who shaped West Point’s Long Gray Line — ordinary women with extraordinary journeys of perseverance and integrity.
On Leadership
Fifteen years of writing on leadership and character, and on the place of women in the military and in public life, long after the uniform comes off.
Meet the Women
Becky Halstead
Brig. Gen. (Ret.) · USMA 1981
West Point’s first woman to pin on the star of a general officer.
Heidi Brown
Brig. Gen. · USMA 1981
First woman to lead an Air Defense Artillery brigade in combat.
Dawn Halfaker
Capt. (Ret.) · USMA 2001
Led a military police platoon in Baghdad; wounded in action.
Sarah Gerstein
1st Lt. · USMA 2007
Military intelligence platoon leader serving in Iraq.
