Rebecca Halstead
Becky Halstead, retired Brigadier General, United States Army, founded her own leader consultancy company, STEADFAST Leadership, LLC, in 2010, following 27 years of service in the U.S. military. Becky specializes in inspirational speaking (nationally and internationally; corporate and academic), developing leader training programs, leader coaching, consulting and advising. Becky has delivered hundreds of keynote speeches, personal leadership workshops, podcasts and webinars. In 2013, she authored her first book on leadership, 24/7: The First Person You Must Lead Is YOU.
In the military, Becky had over 15 years of executive‐level leadership experience, developing and training high-performing, complex and diverse teams capable of strategic planning and execution. She has a proven record of leading change, building successful teams in demanding environments (Afghanistan and Iraq, Germany, South America), and creating innovative solutions, systems and programs to complex problems. She is an experienced leader and logistician, a highly effective communicator, and a strategic planner with exceptional organizational skills.
Becky is a 1981 graduate of the United States Military Academy and achieved an historic milestone as the first female graduate of West Point to be promoted to General Officer. She was the senior Commanding General for logistics in Iraq, and was the first female in U.S. history to command in combat at the strategic level. In this capacity she was responsible for leading over 200 multi‐disciplined units (20,000 military and 5,000 civilians) located across 55 different bases, providing supply, maintenance, transportation and distribution support to over 250,000 personnel serving in Iraq.
During active service, she served in Europe as the Deputy Commanding General (Chief Operating Officer) for the 21st Theater Support Command and has experience leading a multi-national team in wholesale level logistics operations. Prior to Europe, she served as the Chief Advisor to the Combatant Commander (Four Star General) for Southern Command, whose responsibility encompassed military training and operations for South America. She was also responsible for coordinating directly with high‐level organizations such as Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of State, U.S. Congress, U.S. Ambassadors and equivalent foreign military and civilian organizations.
Becky earned a B.S. in Engineering from West Point, an M.S. in National Resource Strategy (Advanced Manufacturing) from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, an M.S. in Advanced Military Studies (Visionary Leadership) from the Army Command and General Staff College, and an Honorary PhD degree, Doctor of Military Science, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA. In 2011, her STEADFAST leadership model was developed into a Harvard Business School Case Study, currently being used in leadership courses across a wide range of top universities.
She is a primary faculty member and keynote speaker with Thayer Leadership at West Point, a premier executive leader development institute. She serves on the Board of Directors for Sturm, Ruger and Co. She is an advocate for healthcare for Veterans through a variety of organizations, with her primary focus on wholefood nutrition as a consultant for Standard Process, Inc, a Wisconsin based company providing whole food supplements since 1929.
Becky is a recipient of the 2023 Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame, a 2022 Distinguished Graduate from the West Point Association of Graduates, a recipient of the 2021 National Women’s Hall of Fame, and a recipient of the 2007 National Women’s History Project award for “Generations of Women Moving History Forward.” In 2011, Becky was an honored recipient of the historic Thayer Hotel room dedication for Distinguished Graduates. From 2009 to 2010, Becky was selected to serve as a Commissioner for the Presidential Commission on Military Leadership Diversity.