Mari Eder Was an Army ‘Unicorn’

When Mari K. Eder, a retired major general, was coming up in the U.S. Army, she was called a unicorn, she says. Serving at a time when combat commands weren’t yet open to women, she held training and professional commands at the company, battalion, brigade and division levels for 36 years before retiring in 2013. She knew she stood out: In meetings at the Pentagon, her male colleagues would check to make sure she was wearing her uniform correctly. When she toured with fellow generals overseas, she was often the only woman.