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CA National Guard gets first black, female leader

3:22 PM on 02/04/2010

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Governor Schwarzenegger swears in Brigadier General Mary J. Kight as the first female adjutant general of the California National Guard and first African-American female National Guard adjutant general in the nation during a ceremony at at Mather Air Force Base Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010 in Mather, Calif. Kight, 59, has spent nearly 25 years with the California Guard after seven years in the Air Force. (AP Photo/Office of the Governor, Justin Short)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- The first black woman to head the National Guard in any state has taken charge in California.

Brigadier General Mary Kight (kite) was sworn in Tuesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a former Air Force base outside Sacramento.

She is also the first woman to lead the 21,000 members of the state's Army and Air National Guard.

Schwarzenegger called the 59-year-old Kight a pioneer for breaking gender and racial barriers. She has spent nearly 25 years with the California guard after seven years in the Air Force.

She assumes command from General William Wade, who is leaving to help command a North Atlantic Treaty Organization force in Italy.

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